Why Ekiti Can’t Pay N30,000 Minimum Wage- Fayemi

The Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, on Saturday said that the federal government needed to address the current revenue allocation formula, to enable state governments pay the new minimum wage being requested by workers.

Mr Fayemi spoke when he received the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office, in Ado-Ekiti.

He said that Ekiti, which received one of the lowest allocations in the country, would require extra N2 billion monthly to be able to pay.

The governor, who explained that the N30,000 minimum wage was not a comfortable living wage for workers, said he was convinced that governors would pay if the federal government creates the enabling environment for them to do so.

He, however suggested a collective approach by labour leadership, the government and the general public.

Mr Fayemi said the issue of affordability was key in paying the proposed minimum wage

The governor said Ekiti had always been paying above the national minimum wage as the state was paying N19,350 as against the N18,000 minimum.

He, however, said that for Ekiti State to pay the new N30,000 minimum wage, it would need an additional N2 billion in addition to the current wage bill of N2.6 billion, totalling N4.6 billion.

This, he said was the case in many other states, disclosing that Ekiti earns averagely N3bn federal allocation monthly.

“I am not holding brief for the governors because I am the youngest among them, having only come to office barely a month ago.