Nasarawa can’t pay N70,000 minimum wage – Gov

The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has announced the resolve of the state government to implement the backlog of promotions for workers from the year 2019 to 2023.

However, he said the state government would not be able to implement the new N70,000 minimum wage until the next two years.

Governor Sule stated this at the Government House, Lafia, when he met representatives of organised labour to discuss issues concerning the welfare of workers in the state.

Arewa PUNCH recalls that the governor had announced the decision of his administration to commence the implementation of the new minimum wage this month of August, promising to pay workers’ arrears for three months starting from May, June and July all in August.

However, the labour unions during the meeting noted that considering the financial strength of the state government, prevailed on the governor to suspend the implementation of the new minimum wage for a short while in order to allow for the implementation of the outstanding promotions of workers in the state.

To this end, Sule agreed to implement the promotion of workers in Nasarawa State from 2019 to 2023.

While restating the commitment of his administration to transparency and open door policy, he reeled out the available options to the labour leaders considering the financial capability of the state.

He said, “I made a promise to you that once the minimum wage is agreed, by the middle of August, we will be able to work out a template to pay the arrears of May, June and July. And for the month of August, we will take off with the new minimum wage. That was my promise, that was my wish, that is my prayer, that is my commitment up till this moment.”

The governor explained that the demand by labour for the implementation of the promotion of workers from 2019 till date, which would amount to about N200m was the easiest thing to approve but it would mean the suspension of the implementation of the new minimum wage for a period of up to two years.

“I am much more aware, more than two months ago, that we have agreed on promotion between 2019 to date, that is from 2019-2023. The idea was to address promotion for the last years 2019 to 2023 so that we will be up to date. We will not fall into the same problem that we had, which I inherited, where workers were not promoted for over eight years.

“What I told you then was that we were waiting for what will be the impact of the minimum wage. If the impact of the minimum wage comes to us as say, N800m a month, if you put together this N200m,  it is about one billion naira. The state can not pay. The state does not have the capacity to pay,” he added.

He explained that even though the federation allocation to the state has improved following the removal of the petroleum subsidy, the cost of materials had also increased such that even with the improved allocation, Nasarawa State would still not be able to implement both the promotion of workers and the new minimum wage at the same time.

“A contract of N3bn before is now N8bn. The cost of materials has changed. Even the cost of security has changed. That is the reality. I am not hiding anything from you. My books are open. Whatever you need to know, ask we will give it to you.

“It will not be my promise that, forget about the minimum wage, implement the promotion today. In that case, even when they finished everything regarding the minimum wage, we left it for a little while, maybe for two years or more. I’m serious.  Where are we going to get the money?” he queried.

Sule further reminded the unions that even the N30,000 minimum wage template by the Federal Government was yet to be fully implemented in the state, thus giving rise to the payment of consequential adjustments.

He also pointed out that when the salary template of the Federal Government is made public and Nasarawa State is not able to fully implement that template, both the state government and labour will sit down to review it downward, particularly regarding the consequential adjustment.

Thereafter, the governor announced the decision of his administration to commence the implementation of the outstanding promotions of workers effective July this year (2024).

He equally disclosed the intention of his administration to constitute the committee for the implementation of the new minimum wage, to be chaired by a professional accountant outside the government.

The governor called on the unions to submit the list of their members that would form part of the new minimum wage implementation committee.

Earlier in his remark, the Nasarawa State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Ismaila Ayuba Oko, listed the two demands of the organised labour in the state to include the implementation of promotion of workers and the release of salaries’ template for the new minimum wage.

“Let us be on the same page and get it clear. We also sat at our level and took far-reaching decisions. First,  we want our promotion implemented. Secondly, the template for the new minimum wage is still being processed.  As soon as that table is gotten, we will come back to the table and discuss the minimum wage. That is our position,” Oko said.