According to a report in The Nation, state governors in Nigeria are not considering a new national minimum wage higher than ₦70,000 per month. The governors, meeting under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), reviewed the current situation and concluded that any amount above ₦70,000 would not be feasible for the states.
The sources at the meeting revealed that the governors ruled out the ₦100,000 minimum wage option that was being discussed by some. Instead, they considered options between the ₦60,000 previously offered to labor unions by the federal government, and the ₦70,000 that the Edo State government has already implemented..
After deliberations, the NGF decided to task a committee led by Governor Hope Uzodimma to review all the presentations and make recommendations. The NGF will reconvene soon to consider the Uzodimma Committee’s report.
The source stated that “No state can afford to pay a ₦100,000 minimum wage and we have ruled out this benchmark.” The report also noted that some states are still paying the previous ₦18,000 minimum wage, as they are unable to afford the ₦30,000 wage that came into effect in 2019. Only one state, Edo, has so far adopted a ₦70,000 minimum wage.
This development aligns with a previous statement by the Chairman of the NGF and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who said that states will only agree to a minimum wage that is “affordable and sustainable” for them.