President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joe Ajaero, has said most governors of the 37-Member Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage do not even comply with the proposed base pay structure.
It has been reported that Vice President Kashim Shettima inaugurated the committee in Abuja on Tuesday.
The VP said during inauguration that the decision was aimed at ensuring a decent living wage and in compliance with the existing National Minimum Wage Act of 2019.
Appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, Ajaero said, ”Most of the governors in the minimum wage committee are those who are not paying minimum wage or paying them in breaches.”
“The governors who are in full compliance with the minimum wage are not adequately represented, so whatever made the Federal Government bring in those who are not compliant or compliant in breaches to form the bulk of the membership of the minimum wage committee from the state government will unfold with time,” he said.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 into law after the National Assembly amended the National Minimum Wage Act in 2017 which made it compulsory to review workers’ remuneration every five years.
The NLC President was pressed to mention some states that are not complying to the act.
He said, “A state like Zamfara, I don’t know how much Borno and Bauchi are paying, there is a minimum wage law which criminalises non-compliance.”
“And the Nigerian state has not tried to enforce these laws, others are just enforcing them in breaches. Take Anambra State for instance, Anambra State pays N30,000 for the least paid. I challenge anybody from Anambra to prove that even a permanent secretary is earning up to N170,000 or N180,000,” he said.
