Non-payment of salaries is breach of contract, says Oshiomhole

Workers not employed to be farmers, by Aliyu
Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has said that the non-payment of wages is a criminal breach of contract by any government whether in a period of economic recession or not.

He added it is the duty of any government to find resources to pay workers.

But the former Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu has asked Oshiomhole to advise his Imo State counterpart Rochas Okorocha that civil servants were not employed to be farmers, adding that the nation’s economy is in chaos because civil servants are not paid.

Aliyu also urged the Edo State governor to “Go to the streets and see how the masses are crying.”

Speaking at “The Podium”, a forum organised by the Kukah Centre yesterday in Abuja, Oshiomhole, who pointed out that the salaries of state governors are determined by the central government wondered how the governors are questioning the national minimum wage.

He said, “What I don’t accept is that you cannot have a centralised system of compensation for executives, governors, commissioners and local council chairmen and none for workers. Their pay is centrally determined and the economy can afford that. What Lagos State governor is receiving is what Edo State governor is receiving. If we have a national compensation, how can these governors turn around and question the wisdom of a national wage structure for workers?

“It is that selective application of fiscal federalism that I find extremely offensive and unacceptable. Even today I remain firm that we must maintain a national minimum wage. We must find ways to implement and adjust it to reflect the cost of living and it is the duty of government and employers to find the revenue to pay those they hired to work.

“Non-payment of wages is a criminal breach of contract whether in recession or prosperity.”

The governor who kicked against the recent calls to decentralise the minimum wage and remove it from the exclusive list, stated that even the military respected this law.