THE Federal Government has resolved to review the salaries of state governors and other political officeholders, as part of its holistic review of wage structure.
Already, the Federal Government has set up a committee, Presidential Committee on Salaries, headed by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed and co-chaired by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige.
Ngige gave the hint on Tuesday when the leadership of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) paid him a courtesy visit on his appointment, adding that in conjunction with the committee, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) will also look at what was given to political officeholders.
Ngige pointed out that the International Labour Organization (ILO) has a fixing mechanism on the minimum wage and consequential adjustment, adding that “I don’t want labour to misinform workers. They should not be misinformed. Workers should know that this is consequential adjustment and not a holistic wage review.”
Ngige also decried the 2020 budget proposal recently submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly.
He lamented that a budget of 76 per cent recurrent and 24 per cent capital had nothing to cheer about.
“It is a matter of balancing. A budget that is 76 per cent recurrent and 24 per cent capital, for me, it is nothing to cheer about,” the minister said.
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With the state of the budget, Ngige wondered where the government would get the money to build roads, airport, rails, health centres, schools and other capital projects.
Out of the 76 per cent, he explained that the government had captured N200 billion generally for consequential adjustment for the minimum wage and others, adding specifically that N160 billion is for consequential adjustment.
NULGE President, Comrade Khaleel, had told the minister to intervene in the issue of the minimum wage, saying that the implementation across board was long overdue.
He also pointed out that NULGE was not in the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), and stressed the need to create one for them or ensure that NULGE joined the existing council.
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