Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says most governors of the 37-Member Tripartite Committee On Minimum Wage are guilty of not complying with the proposed pay structure.
Vice President Kashim Shettima had inaugurated the committee in Abuja on Tuesday, January 30 saying the decision was aimed at ensuring a decent living wage and in compliance with the existing National Minimum Wage Act of 2019 which will expire in a few months.
The House of Representatives’ move to amend the National Minimum Wage Act in 2017 for a compulsory review of workers’ remuneration every five years led to the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking Tuesday night on Channels Television’s Politics Today 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 government that will unfold with time,” he said.
Asked to name states that have failed to implement the minimum wage, Ajaero said, “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.
