President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has said “most” of the governors on the federal government’s tripartite committee are not paying minimum wage.
Gatekeepers News reports that Vice-President Kashim Shettima inaugurated a 37-member committee that will recommend a new national minimum wage for workers.
The committee include representatives of the federal and state governments, private sector and organised labour, and is chaired by former Head of Service of the Federation, Bukar Goni Aji.
Ajaero, while speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, said governors who pay the minimum wage were not “adequately” represented on the committee.
The NLC president 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 makes 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 governments, that will unfold with time.”
Ajaero said in states like Anambra, a permanent secretary is not earning up to N180,000 a month.
He added, “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.
“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.”
The NLC president added that organised labour is worried over the “dollarisation” of the economy.
