Labour movement in Nigeria has urged the Federal Government to make a downward review of salaries of political office holders, stressing that Nigerian political office holders are highest paid in the world.
President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Waba, made this demand following the recent move by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to review salaries of political office holders with “current realities” in the country.
Waba told a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday that Nigerian political office holders were over pampered, saying the political elite were paid more than other political office holders anywhere in the world.
He said, “I was thinking that wage review should be upward or downwards, but in the case of our political elites, it should be downwards.”
The NLC President compared the salaries of office holders in Nigeria with other countries such as South Africa, saying “the margin between the minimum wage and what a politician earns can be determined because there are imperial data to arrive at the differential. In our own case, what is the differential?”
Meanwhile Waba gave an update on the implementation of the new Minimum Wage signed into law on April 18 last year by President Muhammadu Buhari, and urged states to expedite action on the implementation of payment.
While some states have concluded negotiations on the consequential adjustment in the payment of the Minimum Wage and commenced payment, others are still negotiating, he said.
He said there were at least eight categories, which each state falls under on the implementation of minimum wage and consequential salaries adjustment.
He noted the First Category, has 16 states “that have agreed and signed” for the implementation, they are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, FCT, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Lagos, Ondo.
In the second category, he said three states “have reached an agreement but have not signed”. They are: Cross River, Enugu and Sokoto.
According to Waba, there are 17 states in the third category “where negotiation is ongoing”. They include: Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Yobe, and Zamfara.
The fourth category, he said, includes states “that have commenced implementation”. They are Borno, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, FCT, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Lagos, Ondo, Sokoto, and Yobe.
The NLC president said in the fifth category, is Taraba, which “has not started anything, a committee has not been inaugurated, the process of dialogue has not commenced.” He advised the Taraba State government to respond immediately to the demands of the minimum wage act, adding that it has become law and must be obeyed.
The NLC President said further that in the Sixth Category are three states that have commenced implementation for level 1-6. These are, Adamawa, Bauchi and Niger.
The seventh category includes states “that have negotiated but yet to implement and these include Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra and Bayelsa.
“Finally, there are states where no implementation has commenced like Benue, Cross River, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba and Zamfara.”
The labour movement had issued a deadline of January 31 for states to conclude negotiations on the implementation of the new Minimum Wage. It also threatened that the union will not guarantee industrial harmony if the states failed to meet the deadline.
Waba said further that Minimum Wage Act was already a law, and that “every political office holder must respect the sanctity of our constitution and also the sanctity of oath of office they’ve sworn to uphold.
“If a worker is entitled to be paid his wages, the wages must be commensurate to what has been negotiated.”
On the deteriorating security situation in the country, the labour union leader tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to expedite action to address the situation. Waba, who does not want to be dragged into what he called politics of whether the Service Chiefs should be sacked or not, demanded effectiveness. He however, said that if it becomes necessary for the Service Chiefs to be sacked to bring effectiveness, so be it.
