Falana: States can pay minimum wage — AGF should sue defaulters

Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer, says Lateef Fagbemi, the attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, should take legal action against any state that fails to pay the current N30,000 minimum wage.

Falana spoke on ‘Morning Brief’, a programme on Channels Television, on Tuesday.

“Once a new agreement, a new minimum wage becomes the law of the country. The federal government has a duty, and the attorney-general of the country has a duty to drag any state government that does not pay to court,” Falana said.

“I mean, the attorney-general can just file a new case, which is a good development, by saying that over the years, we have accused state governments of diverting money meant for local governments.”

He said no state can claim an inability to pay the minimum wage after the federal government removed the subsidy on petrol.

Falana added that state governments will be compelled to pay the minimum wage, noting that he is pushing for the deduction of workers’ salaries from source.

“There is no state in Nigeria today that cannot pay more than the minimum wage because the government removed fuel subsidy last year, and President Tinubu told Nigerians that the money made from that policy will be used,” he said.

“Any state government or employer of labour that does not pay the national minimum wage, we have agreed this time around (our law firm and the labour unions) we are not going to allow the non-payment of wages. They will be dragged to court.

“We are going to ensure the law is complied with, including the fact that we will be praying the court to make an order deducting what belongs to the workers monthly from the source in Abuja. We cannot go on like this.

“I heard you earlier. Oh, some people cannot pay the N30,000 minimum wage. It shouldn’t be coming from the government because that is an admission of illegality.”