The presidency has explained why a new minimum wage of N100,000 or more would be difficult for the Nigerian government to pay.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga explained this in a Monday interview with Arise Television.
He said that the current economic realities make paying a N100,000 or higher minimum wage not feasible for the federal or state governments.
Onanuga noted that this was evident because many state governments were still struggling to pay the N30,000 minimum wage.
“Let me tell you, the last time it was done under President Buhari when the wage was increased to N30,000 per month, till today, 26 state governments could not pay it, out of 36, Only 10 are paying.
“The rest have not paid the whole rate or maybe they’ve just improved a bit. But mostly, according to the people who have monitored it, 26 state governments are unable to comply.
“Whatever the government wants to do now, even if we increase wages to 100,000 naira, will the Federal Government be able to pay?” Onanuga said.