GOVERNORS WERE LYING WHEN THEY SAY THAT STATES CANNOT AFFORD A MINIMUM WAGE OF EVEN N62,000
The Governors Forum claimed that many states could not afford a minimum wage of even N62,000. This is not true.
At its August meeting, FAAC distributed N1,358 billion to the three tiers of government. This is the highest ever distribution of monthly oil money. It is also 55% higher than the average for last year.
We looked at the finances for six states that the Governors Forum claimed were struggling financially. Based on their finances for 2023 and the first three months of 2024, we found that all these state could easily afford to pay a minimum wage of at least N150,000. Abia State could easily afford to pay a minimum wage of at least N250,000 and yet it has yet to fully implement the minimum wage of N30,000 and still owes arrears of salaries to its workers!
States are not paying a living wage, but this is not because they are short of money. The NLC/TUC need to resume the struggle to force all the states to pay a living wage and to increase this each year as happens in most countries.
The details for each of the six states are as follows:
Balance carried forward to 2024 by Abia State and increased recurrent revenue in first quarter would mean the state could afford a minimum wage of well more than N 250,000 this year from April 2024.
Ekiti State increased recurrent revenue in first quarter would mean the state could afford a minimum wage of nearly N 150,000 this year from April 2024.
Balance carried forward to 2024 by Gombe State, increased recurrent revenue and reducing capital to 25% of budget would mean the state could afford a minimum wage of more than N 150,000 this year from April 2024.
Imo State increased recurrent revenue budget for 2024 would pay for a minimum wage this year of more than N220,00 from April 2024.Balance carried forward to 2024 by Plateau State and increased revenue budget would pay for a minimum wage this year of more than N200,000 from April 2024 for this year.
Zamfara State had a surplus of N50 billion in 2023 and revenue increased by 15% in 2024. This would pay for a minimum wage of at least N150,000 in 2024.
Finally, the states and Federal Government could get far more money from taxation or IGR. The Federal Government grants tax waivers worth N6 trn or 50% of the tax collected last year. In addition, the professional body of project managers says that there are abandoned capital projects worth N17 trillion – https://tinyurl.com/z7cyxhw4
We Still Need to Win a Living Wage
A minimum wage earner in London spends less than an eighth of their monthly income on a basic food basket for a family of four. A minimum wage earner in Abuja would need to spend 343% (or more than three times a salary of N70,000) of their monthly income to afford the same items. This does not cover other essential expenses like housing, transportation, healthcare, and education. We still have a long way to win a living wage. For more details see: https://tinyurl.com/bd7unucp
