The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has stated that most of the governors in the 37-Member Tripartite Committee On Minimum Wage are not currently paying the N30,000 minimum wage to civil servants in their states.
It was reported on Tuesday that Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa inaugurated a 37-man Tripartite Committee on the New National Minimum Wage. This came barely a week after President Bola Tinubu approved the inauguration of the committee.
Reacting while speaking on Tuesday, Ajaero said, “Most of the governors in the minimum wage committee are those who are not paying minimum wage or paying them in breaches.”
”The governors who are in full compliance with the minimum wage are not adequately represented, so whatever made the Federal Government bring in those who are not compliant or compliant in breaches to form the bulk of the membership of the minimum wage committee from the state governments, that will unfold with time,” he said.
He continued: “A state like Zamfara, I don’t know how much Borno and Bauchi are paying, there is a minimum wage law which criminalises the non-compliance of the minimum wage.”
”And the Nigerian state has not tried to enforce these laws, others are just enforcing them in breaches. Take Anambra State for instance, Anambra State pays N30,000 for the least paid. I challenge anybody from Anambra to prove that even a permanent secretary is earning up to N170,000 or N180,000,” he said.