Amidst the conversation over the new minimum wage, a former Governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi says state government can only pay what they can afford to their workers.
Fayemi, the immediate past governor of the state made the remark on Friday on Channels Television.
He made the comment amidst expectation from the federal government which is expected to make a final decision on the matter.
The state governors under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, said earlier this week that they can not afford to pay the N62,000 minimum wage recommended by the tripartite committee set up by the federal government to recommend the new wage for Nigerian workers.
The Organised Labour represented by the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC, has however rejected the N62,000 offer. The workers are demanding N250, 000 as minimum wage.
Reacting yesterday to the controversy, Fayemi said state governors should be allowed to negotiate with their respective workers.
He said the minimum wage issue must be decentralized in such a way that the two levels of government are allowed to negotiate with their workforce on what their monthly pay should be.
He said, “This should be decentralised and each state should define in conjunction with their labour unions, with transparency with all the records provided to the labor unions;
“What we’re dealing with now is dogma. Labour does not want to hear anything about decentralized national minimum wage and decentralised national minimum wage does not mean that what is paid at the level of the state will be lower than the federal.
“In the ’60s and the ’50s, civil servants in the western regions used to earn more than federal civil servants.”
Meanwhile, the National Assembly has promised to ensure the swift passage of the minimum wage bill when sent to the Assembly by the president.
Recall that President Tinubu said during the week that the federal government will only pay what it “can afford” to workers as minimum wage.
