Frank chides Buhari over non-implementation of minimum wage

Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has upbraided President Muhammadu Buhari over non-implementation of the new minimum wage.

Frank, in a statement yesterday, stated that failure of President Buhari to implement a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers six months after signing the bill into law, coupled with the incapacity of many state governments to pay salaries, speaks volume of the comatose state of the nation’s economy.

The former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, who applauded the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, for his timely warning over the precarious state of the nation’s economy, said it behoves on well-meaning Nigerians to speak up to save the country from imminent collapse.

According to him: “This is a government that has failed to implement a new minimum wage for its workforce after Buhari hurriedly signed the minimum wage bill into law in April to save face on May Day. Buhari has breached the minimum wage act by refusing to implement it.

“This is a government that has failed to operationalise financial autonomy for state judiciary and legislatures, which Buhari signed into law in June 2018 following the last constitutional amendment exercise.

“This is a government that has failed to name ministers and key aides to the President after over a month of being sworn into office.”

“In many states of the federation, full workers’ salaries have not been paid for upwards of three years. Is it not benumbing that the newly-inaugurated government in Ogun State had to secure a N7 billion bank loan to pay workers May salaries?”

He lamented that while Nigerians are daily fleeing the country to seek refuge – legally or illegally – in other climes, the Buhari-led administration has turned a blind eye to the plight of Nigerians.

He, therefore, urged international development partners to prevail on the President to be more responsive to the genuine needs of the people to save Nigerians from the current state of avoidable and unnecessary hardship in the land.

Sanusi, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had raised the alarm that the country is heading towards a catastrophic bankruptcy as a result of the poor and indolent management of the economy.

Former Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, had issued a similar warning about a month ago when he declared that Nigeria is heading towards another recession.