Why We Must Allow Revenues To Dictate  ‘Minimum Wage’ For States- Katsina Gov

As the debate  on what should be the minimum wage for workers in the country continues,   the governor of  Katsina state ,  Alhaji Dikko Radda, has  submitted that  states ought to be allowed to determine their minimum wage based on available revenues cognizant that their challenges and revenues are not the same.

Team@orientactualmags.com learned that Governor Dikko Radda said  this when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Friday evening.

Recall that  the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC,  had last month, submitted a proposal of N615,000 minimum wage to the 13-member  tripartite committee set up by the Federal Government while a 25 and 35 per cent pay rise  for the workers was however announced  by the Federal Government on Wednesday .

  NLC President, Joe Ajaero has  described this as ‘mischievous’.

Governor  Dikko said  on Friday that revenues should be allowed to dictate minimum wage for workers at  the sub-national level.

‘So, I think on the issue of the minimum wage, we agree that the Federal government can have a minimum standard of the minimum wage, but sub-nationals should be allowed to come up with a reasonable standard within which their economy can be able to afford.

That is my view and that is the view of some of our colleagues. Yes, we have agreed that there should be a minimum wage, but there should be a minimum standard within which the sub-nationals can address it’  he said.

 ‘I don’t know what comes into the Edo state coffers, so the governor is at the liberty to say whatever amount he can afford’  Dikko submitted when asked if Katsina state would  pay N70,000 as minimum wage like it has been announced in Edo state.

 The governor also  noted that some states are still unable to pay the  existing N30,000 minimum wage, adding that  Katsina state would need to consider its revenue and the strength of its civil service to determine exactly how much it would pay its workers.

‘For me to sit down here and tell you that this is the amount that I will agree to pay my civil servants, I cannot do it. Because we are running a government, we need to take this thing into executive council to sit down with all the important people in government, look at our revenue, look at our expenditure, look at the strength of our civil servants before we can conclude.

You would remember that even the N30,000 minimum wage that was agreed upon before now , there are some states that up till now, have not implemented the N30,000 minimum wage. So, we have to be very careful and look at it holistically so that we can address the issue appropriately’ he added-Team@orientactualmags.com  Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com.  Thank you