In the ongoing negotiations, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum on Thursday emphasized that the government and organized labor must come up with a feasible minimum wage.

The NGF promised labor of the governors’ commitment to pay the workers an improved wage in a communique signed by its chairman, Abdul Rahman AbdulRazaq, the governor of Kwara State, and released at the conclusion of its virtual meeting.

The state governors were forewarned by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress not to default on the new minimum wage that would be decided upon during the ongoing negotiations.

A tripartite committee made up of government, labor, and business sector officials was established by President Bola Tinubu in January to evaluate the N30,000 minimum wage that was put in place under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The NLC and the TUC, the two main labor unions, recently brought a proposal for a minimum wage of N615,000 before the committee.

The administration declined to declare a new minimum wage during Wednesday’s May Day celebrations, citing its unwillingness to embrace labor’s proposal.

But in a statement, the NGF stated that in order to decide an increased minimum wage that the states could support, it was evaluating the financial capabilities of each state government as well as the possible outcomes of various suggestions.

The communique read in part “The forum celebrates with workers across the country for their dedication to service and patience as we work with the Federal Government, labour, organised private sector and relevant stakeholders in arriving at an implementable national minimum wage.

“While we acknowledge various initiatives adopted of recently by way of wage awards and partial wage adjustments, it is imperative to state that the 37-member tripartite committee inaugurated on the National Minimum Wage, is still in consultation and yet to conclude its work.

“As members of the committee, we are reviewing our individual fiscal space as state governments and the consequential impact of various recommendations, to arrive at an improved minimum wage we can pay sustainably. We remain committed to the process and promise that better wages will be the invariable outcome of ongoing negotiations.”

Tommy Etim, the vice president of the TUC, stated that the governors would be held accountable for the increased minimum wage in his speech regarding their vow.

“Governors increasing wages are taking individual decisions as the new minimum wage hasn’t been drafted. What will be binding on governors is what is agreed upon at the federal level and that is why governors are on the committee,’’ he said.

“There is no fixed date yet for the meeting between the minimum wage committee and the Federal Government,” a top NLC official said when asked when the committee would meet after it was unable to come to a decision last Monday. The official insisted on remaining anonymous because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.

As per his statement, the labor unions have proposed N615,000 as the new minimum wage and are awaiting a response from the administration.

The unions have also demanded that the new Act should have a two-year life with an agreement for automatic adjustment in wages any time inflation exceeds 7.5 per cent.

“We have also demanded that every employer with up to five workers in his employ shall pay the new minimum wage and have asked for the strengthening of monitoring and compliance mechanisms to penalise non-complying state governments and organisations.” the source added.

Chief Emmanuel Fashe, the NLC’s chairman for Adamawa State, added that the governor of the state has pledged to pay the new minimum wage to state employees without putting it through any more discussions or reviews with labor unions in the region.

Speaking on the predicament of workers and the necessity for state governors to take immediate action to lessen their suffering, he claimed that the withdrawal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the naira had caused a sharp decline in the standard of living for Nigerian workers.

“Too self-centered, even though the same cannot be said of all the governors as some have been very considerate in implementing the new minimum wage,” the governors were chastised by him.

He did, however, add that because Governor Ahmadu Fintiri has demonstrated that he is a worker-friendly governor, his state’s labor unions have strong working relationships with him.