Moghalu Says Over N30,000 Minimum Wage Will Create Massive Inflation

Kingsley Moghalu, presidential candidate of the Young
Progressives Party (YPP), says there will be “massive” inflation if
a minimum wage of over N30,000 is approved.

Organised labour is agitating for an increment of the present
N18,000 minimum wage to N30,000, a proposal, for which has been
submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Commenting on the development in an interview with journalists
at the Workstation, Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said: “Paying a minimum wage of over
N30,000 now will create massive inflation in the country.

“I stand with labour unions in their demand, and I also know
that N18, 000 minimum wage is poverty wage, however in handling the
economy, care must be taken to avoid decisions that may crumble
it.

“If Nigeria has constant electricity alone, it will have
tremendous positive impact on the economy.”

On the 2019 general election, Moghalu said inducement will play
little or no part in deciding who wins.

According to him, some politicians may want to buy votes but
Nigerians cannot be fooled any longer into selling their votes

According to the presidential candidate, Nigeria’s security
issues are compounded by the nation’s porous borders, adding that
the country had lost significant part of its territorial control at
the borders, which must be addressed.

“We need to properly demarcate our borders and man them
efficiently, using combined border security forces.

“Our borders with Chad, Niger, Cameroun and Benin are so porous
that we have so many non-citizens troop in daily, commit crimes and
leave undetected,” he said.

He said that there was need for Nigeria to step up security
surveillance

The presidential candidate warned that if not handled well; it
might affect the conduct of the 2019 general elections, adding that
INEC might not be able to hold elections in volatile areas.

Moghalu also reiterated the need for the Nigeria Police Force to
be reformed and more personnel recruited to reinforce the efforts
of the force in checking break down of law and order.

Meanwhile, Mr Donald Duke, the presidential candidate of the
Social Democratic Party (SDP), has called on the Federal Government
to find a comprehensive and longterm solution to the lingering
minimum wage crisis in Nigeria.

Duke made the call in a statement on Saturday in Calabar.

The presidential candidate said that the present “fire brigade”
response was tantamount to giving a shortterm solution to a
longterm problem.

He also described such an approach as inherently faulty and
unsustainable, hence the incessant resurgence of the issue with
every administration.

Duke, therefore, called for a holistic and systemic approach to
addressing the issue, adding that identifying and addressing the
real needs of civil servants would be the best approach to solving
the lingering problem.

He listed some of the needs to include food, housing,
transportation, health, children’s education, and security rather
than focusing on salary increases.