Governors in Nigeria have said workers in their employ have two options concerning the N18,000 minimum wage in force now: they agree to either a cut in pay or workforce.
This position was made known by the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari.
Yari, who spoke with newsmen on Thursday at the State House in Abuja, said despite the outcry by the workers and the public on the issue, it was not economically feasible to retain the same workforce and pay same amount of money with the dwindling resources of the country.
According to him, the funds available to the states from the Federation Account could no longer sustain the expenses of the state and with Internally Generated Revenue not enough to augment it.
However, the Governors of Edo and Rivers State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and Barrister Nyesom Wike, have announced their objection to the proposed pay cut for government workers.
Yari, who spoke with newsmen after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, said: “Let me make it very clear to Nigerians: Governors’ Forum is not the enemy of labour in any way.
“Rather, we have been working together.
“But what we are saying – because not only Gov. Wike but also my friend in the comradeship, Adams Oshiomhole, kicked against the decision – what we said is that when the National Assembly enacted the law of paying N18,000 minimum wage, then the oil was about $118 per barrel and today where we are oil is $41 per barrel.
“So, if it continues like that, definitely we will find it difficult to continue.
“We have to sit down with the labour and see how we can review.
“Either continue or downsizing or see what we are going to do.
“We want to find a solution because we have to be realistic that we have so many things to touch.
“There is infrastructure deficit, there is need for security, there are other things like social lives of our people and nation as a state.”