Minimum wage: NLC wants govs who diverted bailouts probed

The General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Peter
Ozo-Eson, said governors who claimed to lack the financial capacity
to pay the N30,000 minimum wage should not be taken seriously
because some of them diverted the bailouts paid to them by the
Federal Governments instead of paying backlog of workers’
salaries.

Ozo-Eson also said in an interview with our correspondent that
while the union expected the Independent Corrupt Practices and
Other Related Offences Commission to deal with the affected
governors, nothing was done even though the commission’s report
indicted some of the governors.

The Nigeria Governors Forum, through its chairman, Abdulaziz
Yari, had said after a meeting that its members would not be able
to pay the new minimum wage of N30,000.

Already, the NLC had said it would stage a nationwide protest on
January 8, 2019 over the minimum wage crisis.

When contacted, the ICPC spokesperson, Rasheedat Okoduwa, said
she was on her annual leave and had no information on action being
taken against the state governors.

She promised to avail our correspondent of the information as
soon as she got it.

Ozo-Eson said the governor’s response to workers’ demand was a
confirmation that some of them were not creative in generating
resources for their states and transparent in the way they spend
their states’ fund.

He said, “When the bailouts and Paris Club loan refund tranches
started, we asked each state NLC chapter to monitor what was going
on. We also partner the ICPC formally to help monitor what was
going on. The ICPC later came up with a report that some states
diverted the funds. NLC does not have the power of prosecution or
enforcement. We expect certain steps to be taken to caution those
governors but nothing has been done.

“Because we have information on such (funds diversion), that is
why we don’t take some of these governors seriously. There is a
governor who put the state’s Paris Club loan refund in a fixed bank
account. These are documented. We took step to monitor and have
outcome of such monitoring. When the governors keep saying that
they cannot pay, they are only misusing English Language. What they
should say is that they are not willing to pay. That is a different
matter which implies inability (to pay), given all circumstances.
There is no state in this country that cannot pay N30,000 as
minimum wage if they manage their affairs well and set their
priorities right.”

While challenging the governors to be transparent in the
management of their states’ resources, the NLC spokesman said some
of the governors lived extravagant life.

“If you visit the old terminal of the Abuja Airport where
private and chartered jets take off frequently, you will see a
number of governors coming in and leaving Abuja in private jets.
Those who can do that and tell you that they cannot pay the minimum
wage are saying what Nigerians must ask questions about. I am sure
that the cost of cleaning and polishing their shoes in a month will
probably exceed N30.000. They need to be realistic and realise that
that amount in real term is less than N18,000 minimum wage of
2011,” he added.

Ozo-Eson said the union had challenged the governors on wage
figures, noting that some of the governors’ claims on wage bill
were false.

“Does it sound reasonable that there is a state whose wage bill
is bigger than its income from the federation account and IGR? How
does such governor maintain the state house feeding, entertainment,
wining and dining at the state expense? Ask how these states are
able to pay the legislators in their state houses of assembly. Do
the governors owe their personal salaries? If the answers are no,
then you already know that those figures are not correct.

“A state should be an entity that should be able to plan how to
raise revenue. What prevents states from making investments in
resources that are within their domain in order to raise IGR?
Managing state affairs properly involves ability to be creative to
generate enough resources and to choose the right priority in
expending that revenue,” the NLC General Secretary said.