Southwest govs demand fiscal federalism in minimum wage agreement

The Southwest governors have said that the minimum wage resolution between organised Labour and the Federal Government should reflect fiscal federalism.

Oyo state governor, Seyi Makinde, made this known in a statement on Tuesday following a meeting involving the governors from the Southwest region of Nigeria.

The meeting which took place in Lagos on Monday had in attendance the Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun, Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti, Ademola Adeleke of Osun and Makinde.

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“I was in Lagos yesterday (Monday) for a meeting with my brother governors from the Southwest. We affirmed our support for the ongoing negotiations on minimum wage and emphasised that the resolution should reflect fiscal federalism,” Makinde wrote on X.

“On minimum wage, the Forum supports the efforts of the Federal Government, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the Organised Private Sector on their ongoing conversations with the Labour Union. We believe the outcome will reflect true fiscal federalism.

“The forum further resolved to collaborate more on food security, restated our support for state policing, and commended our regional security outfit, Amotekun.

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“We also commended the members of the House of Representatives for the progress made on the South West Development Commission Bill and urged the Senate to swiftly pass the bill.”

Makinde said other notable decisions reached included a plan to strengthen the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission by appointing someone from each State to work with the commission.

He added that they also condemned the illegal actions of groups agitating for a separate Yoruba nation.

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Meanwhile, on the new minimum wage, the Labour Union has said the organs of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) would meet to decide on the resumption of a nationwide strike if the Federal Government fails to act on its demands by the end of Tuesday.

Assistant General Secretary of the NLC, Chris Onyeka, said this on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief show on Monday.

“The Federal Government and the National Assembly have the call now,” Onyeka said.

“It is not our call. Our demand is there for them (the government) to look at and send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, and for the National Assembly to look at what we have demanded, the various fact of the law, and then come up with a National Minimum Wage Act that meets our demands.

“If that does not meet our demand, we have given the Federal Government a one-week notice to look at the issues and that one week expires tomorrow (Tuesday).

“If after tomorrow, we have not seen any tangible response from the government, the organs of the Organised Labour will meet to decide on what next.”

READ ALSO: FG says negotiation is for minimum wage not living wage, offers N57,000

Onyeka stated that Labour would not accept any ₦62,000 or ₦100,000 as the minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

He insisted on ₦250,000, labour’s latest demand at the last meeting of the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage on Friday.