The Governor of Katsina State, Dikko Radda, has expressed his view on the lingering argument over the new minimum wage.
Recently, some state governors announced implementation of new minimum wage for civil servants in their states.
This development comes amid a proposal by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress for a minimum wage of N615,000.
The labour unions had submitted the proposal to the tripartite committee set up by the Federal Government.
However, on Friday evening, while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Governor Radda argued that states should be allowed to determine their minimum wage based on a minimum standard set by the Federal Government.
The Katsina state governor noted that the challenges and revenues generated differed between states.
It is worth noting that the federal government failed to announce an increment in minimum wage during the Workers’ Day celebration held on Wednesday.
However, the government announced a 25 and 35 per cent wage award for workers, which the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, described as “mischievous.”
On his part Governor Dikko opinned that sub-nationals should be allowed to come up with their standards for increments in the minimum wage, which the various states would be able to afford.
He said: “So, I think on the issue of the minimum wage, we agree that the Federal government can have a minimum standard of the minimum wage, but sub-nationals should be allowed to come up with a reasonable standard within which their economy can be able to afford.
“That is my view and that is the view of some of our colleagues. Yes, we have agreed that there should be a minimum wage, but there should be a minimum standard within which the sub-nationals can address it.”
When asked whether his government will pay civil servants N70,000 as minimum wage like one of its counterparts in Edo states, Governor Radda said “I don’t know what comes into the Edo state coffers, so the governor is at the liberty to say whatever amount he can afford”.
He noted that some states are still unable to afford the N30,000 minimum wage, and added that the state will need to take into account its income and the size of its public service to decide how much it can afford to pay its employees.
“I cannot sit down here and tell you that this is the amount that I will agree to pay my civil servants. Because we are running a government, we need to take this thing to the executive council, sit down with all the important people in government, look at our revenue, look at our expenditure, and look at the strength of our civil servants before we can conclude.
“You would remember that even the N30,000 minimum wage that was agreed upon over the years, there are some states that up till now, have not implemented the N30,000 minimum wage. So, we have to be very careful and look at it holistically so that we can address the issue appropriately,” the Katsina State governor added.
