The Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Chris Onyeka, says many state governors are flouting the Minimum Wage Act because they do not believe in sanctity of the law.
Onyeka gave the position in Abuja on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on minimum wage law and its implementation.
NAN reports that while workers are anxiously awaiting a new minimum wage to be passed into law, 15 states are yet to implement the N30,000 wage enacted in 2019.
Even with the increased revenue accruable to states after the fuel subsidy removal and the attendant hardship brought about by the hike in pump prices, the states still need to pay their workers the minimum wage.
The states yet to implement the minimum wage, in defiance of the 2019 Act, are, Abia, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Gombe, Niger, Borno, Sokoto, Anambra, Imo, Benue, Taraba, and Zamfara.
Onyeka said, “A state governor who does not believe in the sanctity of the laws will have a high proclivity to disobey them.
“If you examine the history of some of these governors and their handlers, you will find a preponderance of those who came to power by breaking the laws.
“Is it now that they will obey the National Minimum Wage Act?”.
The labour leader said many governors were unwilling to pay civil servants their salaries because they see the state resources as theirs and are, therefore, not willing to share with the workers, who create the wealth.
“Some governors believe, erroneously, that workers’ salaries can wait or be toyed with without consequences, so they do not place priority to it.
“However, they forget that workers are human beings who need their salaries to meet their basic needs of life,” he said.
