State governors under the aegis of the
Nigeria Governors’ Forum have said that
they can no longer pay the N18,000
minimum wage.
According to them, the minimum wage
was imposed on them when oil sold for
$126 as against the present price of $41
per barrel.
This was one of the outcomes of the
forum’s meeting held on Wednesday
evening inside the old Banquet Hall of the
Presidential Villa, Abuja. The meeting
ended in the early hours of Thursday.
The NGF Chairman, Abdul’aziz Yari of
Zamfara State, said the way out of the
situation was the diversification of the
economy with attention to agriculture
and mining.
The governor said, “We resolved that we
must look at ways to enhance revenue
generation and at the same time look at
ways to cut our overhead costs, more
especially the political office holders’
salaries and other overhead expenses.
“The situation is no longer the same
compared to when we were asked to pay
N18,000 minimum wage, when oil price
was $126 (per barrel) and continued
paying N18,000 minimum wage when the
oil is $41, and the source of government
expenditure is oil, and we have not seen
prospects in the oil industry in the near
future.”
Supporting the NGF position, Governor
Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State told
journalists that there was no way the
country could continue with a situation
where expenditure was more than
income.
“We are faced with a situation where we
either have to reduce cost through salary
reduction or downsize. All these we don’t
want to do but prefer to have a
roundtable with the President, ministers
and economists to look for means of
getting out of this problem,” he said.
Yari added, “We will diversify our
economy in the area of agriculture and
mining. But at the same time, we should
understand our situation where some of
us (states) today are taking N100m home
(monthly allocation) and we have salaries
of over N2bn to pay.
“We, therefore, agreed here to take this
suggestion to NEC in our meeting on
Thursday so that we can be able to find
ways to tackle this problem.
“And we are looking at coming together
to discuss with Mr. President and his
team – with governors, technocrats and
experts in the economy – to see how we
can tackle our troubled situation. We are
working harder to deal with it.”
The governors also called on the Federal
Government to ensure that MTN Nigeria
paid in full the N1.04tn fine imposed on
it by the Nigerian Communications
Commission.
The NCC had imposed the fine on the
firm for not deactivating unregistered
Subscriber Identification Module cards of
subscribers.
There have been moves by the firm to
have the fine either reduced or the
payment staggered by the telecoms
industry regulator. The Chief of Staff to
the President, Abba Kyari, is handling the
matter on behalf of the Presidency.
But the governors, in a communique
signed by Yari, commended the NCC for
imposing the fine.
The decision was taken after members
the forum received a comprehensive brief
on the development from the NCC acting
Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar
Danbatta.
Yari said, “The forum also commended the
NCC for its strict compliance and
enforcement of the law with regards to
the fine issued to MTN and advised the
Federal Government to ensure prompt
and full payment.
“Hence, MTN has accepted that it
committed the offence and has
apologised, and is looking for leniency; we
in the governors’ forum decided to
support the NCC to abide by the laws of
the land; and the laws of our land do not
give leniency to a deliberate offence to
our nation.”
The forum also promised to collaborate
with the commission in order to assist in
boosting the telecommunications
industry.
The governors also agreed to meet with
stakeholders to articulate a robust
strategy that would address the
deplorable state of the nation’s economy.
