Soludo, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), warned that if President Tinubu approves what employers cannot afford, the consequences will be on the President and not on him (Soludo).
Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has warned President Bola Tinubu against approving what he described as unsustainable national minimum wage being demanded by the organised labour.
Soludo, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), warned that if President Tinubu approves what employers cannot afford, the consequences will be on the President and not on him (Soludo).
Whereas the Nigerian government has proposed N62,000 as the new national minimum wage, the organised labour has insisted on N250,000.
In his Democracy Day speech in Abuja on Wednesday, President Tinubu said an executive bill on the new national minimum wage would soon be sent to the National Assembly for passage.
But speaking at The Platform Nigeria, a programme organised by Lagos-based church, Covenant Nation, to mark the 2024 Democracy Day on Wednesday, Governor Soludo whose state is among those yet to implement the N30,000 national minimum wage, said that he would not bear the consequences of any unsustainable minimum wage approved by the President.
According to him, the private sector employs a huge percentage of the total workforce in the country and not all of them can pay the N62,000 proposed by the Federal Government.
Governor Soludo said, “The minimum wage thing, everybody is right. The worker is right to say, ‘What am I getting?’ Nobody is asking what does a worker do?
“We are not asking that question yet. All we are saying is: ‘How much does he need?’ He (the worker) is right, and for me, even if we pay N1 million, it’s not enough. But on the other hand, you have to come back to reality; talking about these MSMEs, the schools, churches, so on and so forth.
“You will have to pay your own driver. We are all in it. Whatever they agree, we will muddle through but maybe after one year, we will need to meet to discuss the consequences.
“I pity the President because it will all be on his head if the consequences come down, whatever it is, if whatever is negotiated is unsustainable or payable or whatever. Months to come, who will bear the responsibility? Not me.”