If Tinubu approves unsustainable minimum wage, I feel sorry for him: Soludo

Governor of Anambra State Chukwuma Soludo says he feels sorry for President Bola Tinubu if he decides to sanction a minimum wage that is “unsustainable” for the workers of the country.

The ex governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a warning, stating that not all state governments, the organised private sector, and the federal government could afford to pay the ₦250,000 that organised labour demanded and the ₦62,000 that the federal government was proposing.

Soludo, the Speaker from 2015 to 2019, delivered this statement at The Platform Nigeria, a 2024 Democracy Day programme organised by Covenant Nation, a Lagos-based church.

He warned that an unsustainable wage might lead to job losses and spiral economic challenges in the country. Soludo and his 35 colleagues under the umbrella of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum had also described minimum wage demands of Labour as sustainable.

In his Democracy Day address on Wednesday, Tinubu assured Labour that an executive bill on the new national minimum wage for workers would soon be sent to the National Assembly for passage.

The President would make a decision on the ₦62,000 proposal of the government and private sector side; and the ₦250,000 demand of the Organised Labour.

However, Soludo said at the best of estimates, the Federal Government revenue won’t exceed N17 trillion this year. “If you share it to all Nigerians, it comes to N6,160 per person, per month, per capita. If you take even the total N28. 7 trillion and share, it will come down to N10,000 per capita.

More to follow…

(Vanguard)