Amid claims by the 36 state governors under the aegis of Nigeria Governors Forum that the N18, 000 national minimum wage can no longer be sustained, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has said that he has no plan of reviewing downward the minimum wage, in spite of its current financial challenges.
Fayose, who stated this during his sensitisation tour of Irepodun/Ifelodun and Ekiti South-West local government areas, at the weekend, also said that the state government may decentralize the payment system to ensure the smooth payment of the salaries.
Describing the current minimum wage of N18, 000 as grossly inadequate, the Ekiti governor argued that any slash in the salary would not augur well for the workers and their dependants.
“I won’t reduce salaries. The N18, 000 minimum wage is not even enough”, he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi.
On the plan to decentralize, Gov. Fayose said that the government would liaise with labour unions in the state to fashion out a new mode of payment.
The governor, who first visited, Igede-Ekiti, said there was no point hiding the financial situation of the state government from the workers even as he promised that soon as the balance of the federal government’s bailout funds is released to the state, pensioners would be paid.
“I will never hold your money one extra day. The shortfall in the bailout fund will be redressed”, Fayose said.
