- A PDP chieftain, Rilwan Olanrewaju, has said that every state government has the potential to pay up to N100,000 as minimum wage
- The PDP chieftain in an interview with Legit.ng advocated that states should be allowed to pay based on what they get as allocation and their internal revenue
- Olanrewaju then lamented that some governors are not willing to tap into their state’s resources to generate more revenue while advocating for state resource control
Legit.ng journalist Bada Yusuf is an accomplished politics and current affairs editor, boasting over seven years of experience in journalism and writing.
A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Rilwan Olanrewaju, has posited that every governor in Nigeria has the potential of paying N100,000 as minimum wage to civil servants if they are determined to explore their state’s resources.
In an exclusive interview with Legit.ng, Olanrewaju posited that the governors should be allowed to pay minimum wage based on their capacity and the state’s resources. He advocated that states should be allowed to manage their resources.
Photo Credit: @NLCHeadquarters, @officialABAT
Source: Twitter
He then expressed the optimism that organised labour would find a common ground to solve the problem with the government following the governors’ rejection of the N62,000 minimum wage proposed by the federal government.
The PDP chieftain said:
“Our problem is huge as a country. We have too many leaders who are greedy, selfish, and lazy when it comes to thinking outside the box. What I will suggest is that each state should pay according to what it earns.
“The citizens also need to start voting based on quality and not popularity or sentiment. Most governors will prefer to spend on personal properties abroad, living extravagantly than to care for the civil servant. Every state in Nigeria has what it takes to pay 100,000, but the governors are too lazy to tap into the wealth of their states for the general benefit.”
States that can pay higher minimum wage
The PDP chieftain went further to list states that can pay higher minimum wage and some that can pay little. He said:
“I also believe states like Bayelsa, Lagos, Rivers, Akwa Ibon, and Delta should be able to pay more based on what they get from the federal government and also through IGR than states like Osun, Ekiti, Jigawa, and other states with little earnings.
“Bayelsa, for example, with less than 4 million citizens and getting more than 85% of states’ incomes, should be able to care for its workers even more than other states. But, like I said, we have wicked governors who are lazy and greedy.
“I hope NLC can find common ground with the government to solve the everywhere agitation on a living wage. No money is too much for our workers, especially with the current 33.95% inflation rate. The leaders must also show some level of patriotism, as they are the reason why we are where we are.”
Minimum wage: States paying more than N30k
Legit.ng earlier highlighted some state governors that have started paying workers more than N30,000 as minimum wage.
Demand for an increase in the minimum wage has continued to intensify across the country amid harsh economic realities.
Source: Legit.ng
