State governments have no justification not to pay the N30,000 minimum wage, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has claimed on Monday.
While some states have started the implementation of the new minimum wage for workers, others claim they do not have the funds to bankroll the new wage structure.
The NLC President Ayuba Wabba has, however, said since Buhari assented to the bill, no state has the power to overrule it, as he revealed that 10 states have finished negotiating the new minimum wage structure with their workers.
Ayuba listed Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Lagos and Ebonyi states as those who have started the payment of the new minimum wage.
“Let us also not lose sight of the fact that from the day the President assented to the bill, it becomes a law.
So, therefore, states have no reason not to respect a law that had been enacted,” he told Channels TV.
According to the labour leader, “We have those (states) that are still on the table and they have until yesterday (January 5) to complete the process.
This constitutes about 23 states that are on the discussion table. “We have seen commitments. We insist on the process of collective bargaining because we don’t want an allocation of pedants to workers.“
The issue of bargaining is enshrined in international law that workers should be able to know what they will be paid because the N30,000 is already a law. What we are discussing is the consequential adjustment.”
