The Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has cautioned President Bola Tinubu against implementing a minimum wage that may be economically unsustainable for the country.
Soludo spoke on the complexities of the minimum wage issue and its economic repercussions at “The Platform,” a special event organized by The Covenant Nation to promote national development and growth.
The former CBN Governor warned that the proposed ₦62,000 minimum wage by the Federal Government and the ₦250,000 demand by organized labor may be unaffordable for some state governments and private sector employers.
He said implementing an “unsustainable wage” poses significant risks, including job losses and compounded economic challenges.
Persecondnews recalls that in his Democracy Day address on Wednesday, Tinubu assured Labour that an executive bill on the new national minimum wage will soon be sent to the National Assembly for passage.
Soludo said: “If you share it to all Nigerians, it comes to ₦6,160 per person, per month, per capita. If you take even the total ₦28. 7 trillion (budget) and share, it will come down to ₦10,000 per capita.”
He pointed out that the private sector, which employs a significant majority of the country’s workforce, cannot universally afford the proposed ₦62,000 minimum wage, citing his discussions with nine entrepreneurs in his state who expressed their inability to pay the proposed amount.
“The minimum wage thing—everybody is right. The worker is right to say, ‘What am I getting?’ Nobody is asking what a worker does. We are not asking that question yet. All we are saying is, ‘How much does he need?’ He (the worker) is right, and for me, even if we pay N1 million, it’s not enough.
“But on the other hand, you have to come back to reality, talking about these MSMEs, the schools, churches, so on and so forth. You will have to pay your own driver.
“We are all in it. Whatever they agree, we will muddle through, but maybe after one year, we will need to meet to discuss the consequences.
“I pity the President because it will all be on his head if the consequences come down, whatever it is, if whatever is negotiated is unsustainable, payable, or whatever. Months to come, who will bear the responsibility? Not me.”
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