The 36 state governors in the country have rejected the N60,000 minimum wage earlier proposed by the Federal Government.

The governors said the N60,000 minimum wage is not sustainable, noting that it would force some states in the country to borrow to pay workers’ salaries if the new take-home pay is implemented.

They made this known in a statement issued by the Director of Media and Public Affairs of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Halimah Salihu Ahmed, on Friday, June 7, 2024.

The statement read: “The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) is in agreement that a new minimum wage is due. The Forum also sympathises with labour unions in their push for higher wages.

“However, the Forum urges all parties to consider the fact that the minimum wage negotiations also involve consequential adjustments across all cadres, including pensioners.

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“The NGF cautions parties in this important discussion to look beyond just signing a document for the sake of it; any agreement to be signed should be sustainable and realistic.

“All things considered, the NGF holds that the N60,000 minimum wage proposal is not sustainable and cannot fly. It will simply mean that many states will spend all their FAAC allocations on just paying salaries with nothing left for development purposes.

“In fact, a few states will end up borrowing to pay workers every month. We do not think this will be in the collective interest of the country, including workers.

“We appeal that all parties involved, especially the labour unions, consider all the socioeconomic variables and settle for an agreement that is sustainable, durable, and fair to all other segments of the society who have legitimate claim to public resources.”

It would be recalled that the Organised Labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), on Monday, June 3, embarked on a nationwide strike after rejecting the federal government’s N60,000 offer as minimum wage.

The unions, on Tuesday, suspended the industrial action for one week to give room for further negotiations with the federal government after promising to increase the minimum wage from N60,000.

The Star