State Governors under the banner of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) met in Abuja on Wednesday, ahead of their meeting with President Bola Tinubu on Thursday.
The meeting was convened to review the ongoing debates over the proposed new national minimum wage, which is currently being discussed by the tripartite committee on the national minimum wage.
The outcome of this meeting will be presented to the President at an enlarged meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), which will be attended by the President for the first time. Normally chaired by the Vice President, the NEC meeting will see the President’s participation due to the significance of the issues on the agenda.
The issue of the minimum wage will feature prominently at Thursday’s meeting with the President, following his decision to consult widely before settling on any figure.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State and Chairman of the NGF is expected to brief the Governors on the ongoing Local Government Autonomy case, which is currently at the Supreme Court.
Previously, the Governors, represented by the NGF Chairman and Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, had endorsed the federal government’s proposal to set the minimum wage at N62,000. The Governors have consistently maintained that anything above this proposed amount would not be acceptable to them.
Additionally, some Governors have suggested a decentralized approach to negotiating the new minimum wage, allowing states to reach agreements with their workers based on each state’s financial capacity.
