N60,000 can be paid as minimum wage by states that are extremely rich- NLC

State governors are wealthy enough to cover the new national minimum wage, according to a statement made by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Saturday.

According to NLC, the states’ allocation by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) is sufficient to cover the increased minimum wage.

Benson Upah, the head of NLC Public Affairs, made this statement in response to state governors’ claims that they are unable to pay the N60,000 minimum salary that the federal government has suggested.

The Nigeria Governors Forum’s Director of Media and Public Affairs, Halimah Ahmed, released a statement on Friday in which the governors criticised the proposed minimum wage as being unsustainable and excessively costly.

Upah, nevertheless, charged that state governors were operating dishonestly.

A portion of his message says, “We do think the governors have behaved badly. Such a declaration being released to the public in the midst of an active negotiation is unprecedented. It’s definitely not in good taste.

Regarding the accuracy of their assertion, it is untrue since FAAC allotments have increased from N700 billion to N1.2 trillion, making the governments opulently wealthy at the expense of the populace.

“The governors only need to reduce the high cost of governance, minimise corruption, and prioritise the welfare of workers in order to be able to pay a reasonable national minimum wage—not even the N60,000.”