NLC asks workers to vote out governors opposed to N30,000 minimum wage

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says its members will not be intimidated by threat from the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) to sack workers if the new national minimum wage of N30,000 is implemented.

Ayuba Wabba, NLC president, said this in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja.

The governors had said paying N30,000 new minimum wage would lead to bankruptcy, adding that only Lagos and Rivers can afford it.

Abdulaziz Yari, governor of Zamfara state and chairman of the NGF who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, also said it was impossible to implement the N30,000 minimum wage without downsizing the workforce all over the country.

Reacting to the governors’ stance, Wabba said Nigerians workers will vote out any governor who refuses to implement as the new minimum wage.

He said threat to sack workers is not new to the union, “therefore, the current one by the governor of Zamfara cannot be used to intimidate labour.”

He accused some political leaders of wanting to enslave Nigerians workers with meagre salary, asking them to compare “their humongous salaries” with the N30,000 new minimum wage demanded by the union.

“The consequences of workers retrenchment are too grievous for any political office holder truly elected by the people to contemplate,” the statement read.

“Few political office holders are bent on enslaving Nigerian workers with peanuts mislabeled as salaries.

“We urge such elected public officials to subject their humongous salaries and allowances, reputed to be among the highest in the world to public perusal pro rata with the minimum wage they want to force down the throats of Nigerian workers.

“To the oppressors, we have only one answer for you, we will never sleep on our rights.

“We hereby reiterate our directive to Nigerian workers to vote out any politician or political party that refuses to pay the new national minimum wage of N30, 000.

“We shall continue to consolidate our efforts to strengthen already existing platforms and structures to give teeth to our resolve to vote out anti-labour.

“It would interest Nigerians to know that the new national minimum wage of N30,000 was a product of intense and robust negotiations at the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Negotiation Committee that lasted for one year.

“At the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Negotiation Committee, state governments were represented by six states, one state from each of the six geo-political zones.”