Speaking on behalf of the Governors, Abdul'aziz Yari said: “I don’t think you people voted us only to pay salaries. You are looking for good roads, electricity, education and others. So, we can’t do magic. It’s only when we have the funds that we can do all those things."
Governors under the umbrella of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) have said they cannot “perform magic” as regards the implementation of new minimum wage
Responding to queries on the new minimum wage implementation, the Governors said they were not voted into power to pay salaries alone, stating that they also had the responsibility to provide necessary social amenities for their states.
Chairman of the Forum, Governor Abdul'aziz Yari of Zamfara State, stated this after a meeting with his colleagues on Wednesday night.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is proposing a minimum wage of N65,000 for workers.
Yari said it was regrettable that states governments had been limited to only paying salaries, while other sectors such as health, electricity, education, among others, were not given the same attention.
“I don’t think you people voted us only to pay salaries. You are looking for good roads, electricity, education and others. So, we can’t do magic. It’s only when we have the funds that we can do all those things,” he said.
Yari further disclosed that the decision of the governors regarding the minimum wage is dependent on the outcome of meeting between their six-man representative and the committee headed by the Minister of Labour.
“We have a committee of six, which represented us in discussions with the committee headed by the Labour Minister; the committee is yet to give us the final report. When they give us the final report, for which they have our mandate to present our position and the position most likely is to look at the record of up to 14 years,” he said.