Minimum Wage: Labour Promises Hell for Dissenting Governors

As President Muhammadu Buhari about to roll out a new salary package for civil servants, an influential workers union has promised tough times for governors who may not pay with the new salary structure.

The Secretary-General of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Mr. Bashir Lawal, restated this on Wednesday that workers have resolved to tackle governors who may show unwillingness to pay the new package.

Lawal was speaking in an interview with the labour correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

“Workers should immediately inform labour about any governor who refuses to pay the new wage after it must have been put in place by the government,’’ he said.

The federal government is on course to commence the payment of a new minimum wage to civil servants, following persistent demands by labour for the review of the remuneration of workers.

Public sector workers in Nigeria are classified as earning some of the lowest wages in the world, a development that has exposed the workers to penury and pain over the years.

But political office holders in the country, including members of the country’s bicameral legislature earn some of the biggest wages in the world, according to analysts.

Lawal said his call to action was against the backdrop of statements made by some governors that their states lack resources to pay the new minimum wage expected to be approved soon by government.

He argued that it was wrong for any governor to claim that his state lacked resources to pay the new wage, pointing out that every state in the federation had enough resources to cater for workers.

The unionist argued also that the federal government had enough resources to pay the wage demanded by labour.

Lawal, who is also a member of the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage, noted that the government would not spend more than N200 billion to pay the entitlements of core civil servants after the wage increase.

He said the government could pay the agreed N30,000 minimum wage without having to look for funds through borrowing.

”Government generates huge funds from the customs, stamp duty payments, value-added services, the treasury single account and other sources.

”The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) says it recorded N5.4 trillion in 2018 and is targeting about N8 trillion in 2019. These are revenue sources which can enable government to pay the new minimum wage,” he said.

The union scribe said although there were leakages, the federal government could pay the minimum wage within the resources available to it.

He said the technical committee would appraise the prevailing agreement with the government as the agreement affected grade levels of civil servants.

According to him, labour has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government on how it will pay 90,000 civil servants from grade levels five to 17.