The governors described a minimum wage of N60,000 as too high and not sustainable, adding that approving it would push many state governments to take more loans to pay salaries.
The National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Shehu Gabam has claimed that all 36 states of the federation have the resources to pay N60,000 minimum wage.
Mr Gabam said this when he appeared on a live Channel TV programme on Sunday evening, which was monitored by SaharaReporters.
The SDP chairman’s remark followed a statement issued by the Director of Media and Public Affairs of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Hajiya Halimah Salihu Ahmed, last Friday which claimed that state governments would not be able to pay N60,000 minimum wage to workers.
The governors described a minimum wage of N60,000 as too high and not sustainable, adding that approving it would push many state governments to take more loans to pay salaries.
The statement reads in part, “All things considered, the NGF holds that the N60,000 minimum wage proposal is not sustainable and cannot fly. It will simply mean that many states will spend all their FAAC allocations on just paying salaries with nothing left for development purposes.
“In fact, a few states will end up borrowing to pay workers every month. We do not think this will be in the collective interest of the country, including workers.
“We appeal that all parties involved, especially the labour unions, consider all the socioeconomic variables and settle for an agreement that is sustainable, durable, and fair to all other segments of the society who have legitimate claim to public resources.”
Reacting to the governors’ position on minimum wage, Shehu Gabam said any serious governor would pay N60,000 as minimum wage without borrowing.
He advised the governors to remove ghost workers from the payroll and be deliberate about their priorities.
He said, “I totally disagree with that. Any serious governor that puts his priorities right can pay N60,000 comfortably in the civil service structure, particularly in the state.
“If you know the number of ghost workers, you will be shocked and amazed. Any governor that is very tough with the system and removes the entire ghost workers in the system.... And you have effective civil service. It is not the size that matters, it is efficiency that matters. They can pay N60,000 comfortably without borrowing.
“If you look at their security votes, what do they do with their security votes? If you look at other projects that they do that are insignificant and have not impacted any citizens.”