FG rejects N22,000 minimum wage proposed by governors

The Federal Government has rejected the N22,000 minimum wage proposed by the Nigeria Governors Forum on Tuesday, October 30, 2018.

Chairman of the forum and governor of Zamfara State, Abdul'aziz Yari, announced that the governors have agreed to pay N22,000 to workers as minimum wages after months of deliberation.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, stressed that the N22,000 is lower than the N24,000 proposed by the Federal government.

In an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday, October 31, the minister said he has made it known to the governors that the Federal Government is not in support of their proposal.

He said "The governors have not even done enough. I told them that this N22,500 was even rejected by the federal government," the minister said.

"The national minimum wage is a national legislation being driven by the federal government of Nigeria in pursuance to item 34 of the exclusive legislative list. But you don't go and make a law which people will disobey at the initial.

"If you make a law and hoax a figure that is not agreeable, which people don't have the capacity or ability to pay because the International Labour Organisation (ILO) says in those negotiations, the principle is the ability to pay," he added.

The president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, who was also present at the program, stated that the governors' position is unknown to labour laws and contrary to the overall decision of the tripartite committee on the minimum wage.

The organised labour had warned Nigerians to start stocking up on food as it counts down to a shutdown of the country in a nationwide strike action from November 6.