The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, said on Friday a uniform minimum wage is unrealistic in Nigeria because states vary in their financial capacity.
He noted that Nigerian workers would be better off when states are allowed to fix their separate minimum wages in line with their financial capacity.
Wike, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), spoke in Port Harcourt at a public hearing on the new national minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
He said: “The single national minimum wage system is yet another lie that betrays the distortions in our federation and the structured dislocation of the states in the power equation between the Federal Government and the federating states.
“It is our view that the country and its workers would be better off, if states are allowed to fix and pay their own minimum wages, indexed to the prevailing cost of living and ability to pay.
“When this happens, it is possible that some states may go beyond the minimum threshold to pay a living wage, which is what our workers truly need.”
The Rivers governor also said the previous review exercise failed to give maximum weight to the existing disparity in economic potential and capabilities among the 36 states of the federation, stressing that it had been difficult for most of the states in Nigeria to implement the existing N18,000 minimum wage.
He noted that majority of the states were within the fringes of financial viability and unable to meet their salary obligations to civil servant without bailouts from the federal government.
