By Aderemi Maruf
The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige, has revealed that the Federal Government rejected the N22,500 minimum wage proposal by the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).
Ngige stated this on Wednesday while being interviewed via the phone on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“The governors have not even done enough. I told them that this N22,500 is even rejected by the Federal Government,” he said.
The governors forum had on Tuesday unanimously agreed to pay Nigerian workers N22,500 as the new minimum wage as against the current N18,000.
Chairman of the Forum and Zamfara State Governor, Abdul’Aziz Yari, insisted that the decision of the governors was based on the current realities on the ground.
Ngige however said, “The national minimum wage is a national legislation being driven by the Federal Government of Nigeria in pursuance to item 34 of the Exclusive Legislative list.
“But you don’t go and make a law which people will disobey at the initial.
“If you make a law and hoax a figure that is not agreeable, which people don’t have the capacity or ability to pay because the International Labour Organisation (ILO) says in those negotiations, the principle is the ability to pay.”
