Following the meeting of the governors of the 36 states of the federation, where they said they would no longer be able to pay the N18,000 national minimum wage due to dwindling oil revenue, workers have raised objection, saying they are ready to shut down the country should the governors maintain their stand.
The the decision by the governors, was reached as the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, convened in Abuja, pointing to the massive drop in global oil prices in recent times as the reason for their decision.
The monthly Financial and Operations Report by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, for September 2015 showed that oil revenue payments to the Federation Accounts had consistently dwindled, from N102.99 billion in May; N101.96 in June; N77.4 billion in July; N76.18 billion in August to N73.25 billion in September.
Leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, have warned against the ugly consequences the governors’ decision.
The President of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, said “Nigerian workers would vehemently and totally reject it.”
Mr. Wabba said the NLC would come out with a formal position at the end of its Central Working Committee, CWC, meeting on Friday.
Another labour leader, Joe Ajaero, dismissed the governors’ resolution as “empty threat that should be ignored.”
“The governors should not start a battle they would not sustain or finish, because Nigerian workers have the capacity to retrench them,” Mr. Ajaero said.
