Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, says he pities President Bola Tinubu if he approves an “unsustainable” minimum wage for workers in the country.
The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) warned that not all state governments and the Organised Private Sector can pay the ₦62,000 being proposed by the Federal Government and the ₦250,000 demand of the Organised Labour.
Soludo, who was Speaker from 2015 to 2019, made at The Platform Nigeria, a programme by Lagos-based church, Covenant Nation, to mark the 2024 Democracy Day.
He warned that an unsustainable wage might lead to job losses and spiral economic challenges in the country. Soludo and his 35 colleagues under the umbrella of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum had also described minimum wage demands of Labour as sustainable.
In his Democracy Day address on Wednesday, Tinubu assured Labour that an executive bill on the new national minimum wage for workers would soon be sent to the National Assembly for passage.
The President would make a decision on the ₦62,000 proposal of the government and private sector side; and the ₦250,000 demand of the Organised Labour.
However, Soludo said at the best of estimates, the Federal Government revenue won’t exceed N17 trillion this year. “If you share it to all Nigerians, it comes to N6,160 per person, per month, per capita. If you take even the total N28. 7 trillion and share, it will come down to N10,000 per capita.”
He argued that the private sector employs a huge percentage of the total workforce in the country and not all of them can pay the N62,000 proposed by the Federal Government.
Soludo said he spoke with nine entrepreneurs in the state and none of them could pay the proposed amount.
