Increased allocations: Govts have no excuse not to pay above N70,000 Minimum Wage – NECA

Increased allocations: Govts have no excuse not to pay above N70,000 Minimum Wage – NECA

The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has said state governments have no justification for failing to pay civil servants wages higher than the new ₦70,000 minimum wage, given the rising cost of living and increased federal allocations.

NECA’s Director General, Adewale Smatt-Oyerinde, made the statement during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday.

He noted that the boost in revenue from the Federation Account had weakened claims by some states about their inability to meet the wage requirement.

In July 2024, President Bola Tinubu signed the new minimum wage bill into law after months of negotiations between government officials, labour unions, and the private sector.

The law raised the national minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000.

While implementation has varied across the states, some governors have opted to go beyond the federal benchmark.

On August 27, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State approved a new minimum wage of ₦104,000 for workers, while the Ebonyi State government announced a ₦90,000 minimum wage the following day, both with immediate effect.

Speaking in the interview, the NECA boss stated: “So, no state really has an excuse in the context of the current reality to stay at that ?70,000, especially with people struggling with the price of petrol. While many states are still doing a lot with the CNG buses, we think more still needs to be done.

“A lot still needs to be done with the context of food security and shelter. Once you deal with that, the conversation would not really be about minimum wage because the quantum of that ?70,000 will be able to buy enough for an average household. So, it’s not about the quantum, it’s about what exactly the ?70,000 can buy.”

He said any measure aimed at reducing the pain of workers, as key drivers of the economy, would boost their productivity

“While we are not directly involved in the core, the real dynamics of the state – the socio-economic challenges that they have, it is important to also state that the workers, either in the public and private sector, are very key drivers of the economy of any state and a very key driver of even the private sector.

“Whatever will improve productivity will increase motivation, especially within the context of ongoing reforms.

”You know, if you are hungry, or if you’re not really composed, you’re hungry, you have issues with shelter, you have issues with transport, hardly would you be productive at work.”

Smatt-Oyerinde said it was in the best interests of those state governments to see the civil service as the engine that drives the system.

He added: “So if you see it from that perspective, you realise then it becomes important for you to address the issues that concern that engine.

“That’s the perception of the private sector because the workers in the private sector are quite critical to productivity, critical to growth of the private sector, and that is the perception we have, that workers are important, then let’s treat them so, as the ILO said workers are not commodities.”