A chieftain of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, has advised governors across the country to cut down their salary if they are truly serving their people.

Oguntoyinbo made this declaration in view of the rejection of the Federal Government’s proposed new monthly minimum wage of N60,000 by the state governors.

The Federal Government had proposed N60,000 as the new minimum wage for workers across the country.

While organised labour views the proposed N60,000 as inadequate salary for workers, the proposal was viewed differently by the governors under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

The NGF, in a statement by the Acting Director of Media Affairs and Public Relations, Halima Ahmed, noted that if allowed to fly, many states would use all their monthly allocations from the Federation Account to pay workers’ salaries.

Ajadi in his reaction, described as “insensitive and wicked” the rejection of the Federal Government’s proposed new monthly minimum wage of N60,000 by the state governors.

Ajadi said the governors were too hasty in their rejection of the N60,000 minimum wage because the labour unions have not even agreed to the proposal. He then used the opportunity to appeal to members of the tripartite committee to agree on a minimum wage that would be fair and sustainable.

The NNPP chieftain, in a statement made available to The Guardian on Sunday, said he was shocked at the reaction of the governors to the N60,000 proposal. He contended that one of their members, the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, had on his own volition started paying N70,000 monthly minimum wage in his state. He urged the governors to cut down their own salary to N60,000 if they are truly serving their people.

“I am totally shocked that the governors could come out to say that they cannot pay the proposed N60,000 minimum wage,” he said, per the statement. “That pronouncement by the governors showed that they are insensitive to the plight of workers and the masses. I see it as a wicked pronouncement.

“In the first instance, they were too hasty in their reactions, as the labour unions have not even agreed to the proposal. If the governors are serving the people as they usually claim, they should cut their own salaries to N60,000 too.

“I will also suggest that the governors should be paid according to their qualifications. They should realise that the workers attend the same market their wives and children attend. Since the removal of (fuel) subsidy, the Federal Government has jacked up the monthly allocation to the states. What are the governors doing with the money?

“Part of the money should be used to pay the new minimum wage when agreed by the tripartite committee. President Bola Tinubu has severally warned the governors to make use of the increase in the monthly allocations to better the lots of their citizens. So one is shocked that the governors have the effrontery to reject a merely N60,000 proposal.

“The question we need to even ask is, what can N60,000 buy in the present state of economy. It can’t feed a worker for two weeks, talk less of their dependants. When finally there is an agreement on the new minimum wage, I urge the governors to be sincere and ensure the prompt payment in their states,” Ajadi stated.