AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, governor of Kwara, has asked President Bola Tinubu to consider increasing the national minimum wage from N70,000 to N100,000.
AbdulRazaq spoke on Friday during a meeting between Tinubu
and state governors at the president’s residence in Lagos.
The Kwara governor, who is the chairman of the Nigeria
Governors’ Forum (NGF), commended Tinubu’s “courage” for removing petrol
subsidy.
The NGF chairman said only one percent of politicians can
make the tough call.
The Kwara governor said state governments envisaged that
Nigerians would embark on protests against the subsidy removal.
AbdulRazaq disclosed that governors had mobilised security
agencies in anticipation of public pushback.
“We were expecting serious riots, because there were riots —
#EndBadGovernance riots — even before then and for lesser issues,” the Kwara
governor said.
“Well, lo and behold, we spent money and mobilised the
security agencies to secure the states. Lo and behold, on that day, nothing
happened. There was no riot and protest anywhere.
“I think the nation was shocked by the audacity of Mr
President to implement that serious policy. Today, we’ve benefited immensely
from that policy.
“I can say as a matter of fact, in my own state, when we get
the FAAC allocation, after paying salaries, we’re left with 100 or 200
million.”
AbdulRazaq said states are no longer borrowing money and
issuing bonds to raise funds for salaries and projects.
The governor added that most states now pay an almost N100,000 minimum wage, as opposed to the N70,000 national statutory minimum
wage.
“I urge your excellency, let’s have a discussion on moving
the minimum wage to a minimum of 100,000,” he said.
“We know we’ll get support from you as we go ahead to
implement that.”
In June 2024, Tinubu approved the increase of minimum wage
from N30,000 to N70,000 after assenting to the national minimum wage
legislation.
The legislation provides for a review of the minimum wage
every three years.
The previous N30,000 minimum wage was approved by former
President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com