Resign if you can’t pay new minimum wage, NLC tells governor

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The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on governors who are unable to pay the new N70,000 minimum wage to resign from office.

This comes after Gombe State Governor Inuwa Yahaya announced last week that his administration would not be able to meet the new national minimum wage requirement.

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Yahaya, who also chairs the Northern Governors’ Forum, made this statement during a meeting with labour leaders, civil society organizations, and traders associations at the Government House in Gombe.

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Reacting to Yahaya’s declaration, Benson Upah, Head of Public Relations for the NLC, advised the governor to step down. “He should quit if he cannot pay. He took an oath of office to uphold the law and not to break it,” Upah stated.

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No official from the Trade Union Congress has yet responded to inquiries about the governor’s remarks.

President Bola Tinubu signed the new Minimum Wage Act into law last week, nearly two weeks after agreeing on the N70,000 minimum wage with organized labour unions. On July 18, the Federal Government, organized labour, and the private sector concluded negotiations, with Tinubu reducing labour’s initial demand of N250,000 per month to N70,000 per month.

On July 15, the Federal Executive Council tasked the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning with preparing a bill to amend the 2024 Budget. A week later, Tinubu wrote to the Senate requesting an amendment to the 2024 Appropriation Act and the 2023 Finance Act, proposing an increase in the budget by N6.2 trillion. This request was addressed to the Senate President and read at a plenary session.

The Federal Government has assured that there will be compliance with the new minimum wage, emphasizing that the extensive negotiations and consensus-building from early February to July involved all relevant stakeholders.