*Says its offer was not taken by Pepple’s report
“We have seen what has been presented to the president by the committee. As a member of the committee, Kebbi State Governor said, the committee did not take our submission of N22,500 because it came late. I am surprised how you can do this without the input of the states, because the states are the key stakeholders in this business.”
The Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), which held an emergency meeting in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Wednesday, apparently to choose a common ground on new national minimum wage, has ended its brainstorming with options for the organized labour.
They asked labour to choose between its proposed N30,000 minimum wage and cut in the workforce across the country.
According to the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the governors said it was impracticable for states to pay N30,000 unless the workers were willing to agree to job cuts or the Federal Government accedes to a review of the national revenue allocation formula.
Reading the communiqué, Chairman of the NGF and Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdul’aziz Yari, said the forum has also put together another committee to meet President Muhammadu Buhari again to work-out another formula towards quickly resolving the minimum wage imbroglio.
Members of the committee include governors of Lagos, Kebbi, Plateau, Bauchi, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Enugu and Kaduna states.
Governor Yari said the governors’ cooperation is also being sought for Tax for Health services.
The Ama Pepple-led Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage had recommended N30,000 national minimum wage in its report submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari last week Tuesday.
The DEFENDER reports, recently, that some politicians tried to politicize the recommended N30,000 by sponsoring misleading reports pre-empting President Buhari’s endorsement, to which Presidency replied was incorrect, clarifying that the President would not append his consent until he had allowed the National Assembly do its own part.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on the account of the Presidency’s corrective reaction, asked the organized labour not to trust President Buhari over his announced commitment to new national minimum for Nigerian workers.
But President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Ayuba Wabba, replying to the opposition and its candidate, while appearing on last week Thursday TVC Fireworks programme warned that there should be no playing politics with the ongoing process for the workers’ minimum wage.
‘Our offer not taken by tripartite committee’
Speaking on the recommendation of Pepple committee, Governor Yari told journalists after Wednesday meeting that the offer of states was not taken before the tripartite committee’s report was submitted to the President.
“We have seen what has been presented to the president by the committee. As a member of the committee, Kebbi State Governor said, the committee did not take our submission of N22,500 because it came late.
“I am surprised how you can do this without the input of the states, because the states are the key stakeholders in this business. So a situation whereby our report is not taken or considered by the tripartite committee to present to the president then I don’t know how the committee want us to work.
“But we still say we want to pay but the issue is the ability to pay. If we say no, it is not about the ability to pay, just pay, I don’t know how this formula will come and I don’t know how we can get solution to the issue.
“The N18,000 today, when the president assumed office 27 states were not able to pay, not that they chose not to pay. So now that you say N30,000, how many of them can pay? We will be bankrupt.
“So as Nigerians we should look at the issue seriously. While other people are saying that governors are flying private jet and living in affluence, that one is not luxury but compulsory.
“The issue of government overhead cost if you put it together with personnel cost, it cannot solve this problem. Like Lagos that is paying about N7 billion as salaries if you say it should pay N30,000, now it will be N13 billion. From our calculation, it is only Lagos State that will be able to pay N30,000. As Nigerians, this is our country, there is no other country we have and we should be fair to this country.”
Asked the way forward, Yari said the governors would continue to talk with Labour, to let them see reasons why governors have difficulties.
“Some of us have Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). For instance, the money Lagos State is using to pay is not coming from Abuja. They have a way of getting their money from the IGR and that is why they can afford to pay. They get money through VAT. Apart from Lagos, even Rivers cannot afford to pay. So we have been crying out about this since 2011 but no one will listen.
“One critical example is that some state ration their salaries while some others put everything they earn on the table and ask labour to come and see and they ask them to suggest how much should go for capital and personnel cost. Some say 70 percent for personnel cost and 30 percent for capital projects and yet the states cannot pay and they put the remaining as outstanding.
“If you are talking about oil, the price is not what it used to be, from last year to date, it is $20 less from $75 to $55. So where is the money to pay?
“We should not exploit this matter further; we are leaders today, tomorrow others will be there. So let us look at this matter seriously to see how we can do it properly. It is our primary responsibility to see that everybody is happy.”
When reminded that part of labour grouse was that governors have refused to submit audited account, the NGF chairman said, “we have given the committee audited account of the states to guide them. But if they put the audited account for the past 10-14 years, can you get something out of it? We are going to use the report of the audited committee to make further presentation.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had said that it would not accept anything less than the N30,000 recommended to the president by the Tripartite Committee. It also gave December as deadline for all processes leading to the implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage else they will embark on industrial action.
