Senator Shehu Sani Lashes Back At State Governors Who Refused To Adopt New #30000 Minimum Wages

Senator Shehu Sani

The Senator representing Kaduna central district at the National Assembly, Shehu Sani, on Friday, November 16, came tough on state governors over their claim of inability to pay the N30,000 minimum wage demanded by the organised labour. Sani, who recently left the All Progressives Congress (APC) following a protracted political battle with Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna allegedly culminating in his failure to secure the party’s ticket ahead of 2019, described the governors as frivolous in their spending.

The senator alleged that the governors spend money when they have to reach out to their appointees and for political campaigns. He wondered why they would say they can’t pay workers in their state. “There is enough money to pay elected officials. There is enough money to pay political appointees. "There is enough money to pay campaign officials and foot soldiers. There is enough money to fund campaigns and elections.

“There is not enough to pay workers 30k wages without retrenchment,” he said. Legit.ng had earlier reported that Nigerian governors said they cannot afford to pay workers a minimum wage of N30,000 unless the organised labour wants its members to be sacked in massive job cuts nationwide.

This was contained in the communiqué issued at the end of an emergency meeting by the Nigerian Governors' Forum (NGF) in Abuja on Wednesday, November 14. The NGF said labour should be willing to agree to job cuts or the Federal Government accedes to a review of the national revenue allocation formula.

 The Chairman of the NGF who is also the governor of Zamfara state, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari,read the communiqué on behalf of his colleagues after the meeting. Legit.ng also reported that the leadership of the organised labour on Tuesday, November 13, issued a December deadline for the full implementation of N30,000 as new national minimum wage.