President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has disclosed that State Governors who don’t pay the old minimum wage are among members of the newly-inaugurated national minimum wage committee.
Recall that on Tuesday, Vice President Kashim Shettima inaugurated the 37-man tripartite committee with a mandate to recommend a new minimum wage for the country.
The committee is expected to engage in a genuine dialogue and collective bargaining to arrive at a reasonable and realistic minimum wage, after which an Executive Bill would be sent to the National Assembly.
Reacting to the development in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today last night, Ajaero said, “The day of the expiration of the last minimum wage is March. Ordinarily, we (the committee) have one month plus to work on. I pray that we work seriously to actualise the aim within this one month.
“Our agreement with the federal government is to have a minimum wage committee where the body will discuss and agree on a portable minimum wage that will be more inclusive and address the needs of the workers in the present dispensation.
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“However, from the composition of the minimum wage committee, most of the governors are those that are either not paying the current minimum wage or are paying it in breaches. I pray that they entered this with an open heart. Governors who are in full compliance with the previous minimum wage are not adequately represented in this committee.”
According to him, in States like Anambra, a permanent secretary is not earning up to N180,000 a month.
“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.
“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.
