The meeting between the Economic Management Team (EMT) and State Governors presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday over the new national minimum wage failed to reach common ground.
The meeting which held at the presidential villa, Abuja was attended by the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Governor of Zamfara, Abdulaziz Yari, his counterparts from Kebbi and Plateau, Atiku Bagudu and Simon Lalong as well as Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige and other stakeholders.
The attendees at the meeting disagreed on whether to accept the federal government’s offer of N24,000 even though the Organised Labour is demanding N30,000 as the new national minimum wage.
Another meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday.
In a brief chat with State House correspondents after the meeting, Governor Yari said: “The position of the governors is not very clear to some of you. We are willing to pay any amount but the issue is the capacity to pay.”
He said that the meeting discussed the proposal made by the Organised Labour and the figure proposed by the Federal Government, adding that “the governors still haven’t come out with any figure.”
“So by tomorrow, we are going to discuss with our governors on the bill by the Minister of Labour and Employment to the NGF Secretariat. We will digest it and come up with our own positions as governors because we are critical stakeholders on this issue.”
“We will reconvene tomorrow to brief the Economic Management Team and the Vice president and we take it up from there.
“The governors will meet to take a position and brief the Economic Management Team. This meeting is only for the Tripartite Committee of the government side.”
Omoleye Omoruyi… an apprentice web/game developer, novelist, sensitive to happenings in the world. Meet him @Lord_rickie on Twitter/Instagram
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