FG, states can pay minimum wage with recovered loot — Falana

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana said both the federal and state governments have the capacity to pay the national minimum wage if looted monies are recovered. 

Falana stated this in an interview with Channels Television.

He said, “The state governments that are saying they have no money to pay, the money is there.

“All they need, including the Federal Government, is to muster the political will to collect and recover money either looted or withheld from the federation account,” he added.

Recall that the organised labour and the federal government have yet to reach an agreement on the new minimum wage with the latter rejecting the former’s N62,000 offer. 

During the last meeting held by the Tripartite Committee on the New Minimum Wage on Friday in Abuja, labour reduced its demand to N250,000 from N494,000, while the Federal Government increased its offer from N60,000 to N62,000.

The proposed minimum wage may have to wait until 2 July because the National Assembly is on holiday. During the show, the senior lawyer asked the Nigerian authorities to muster the political will to pay the minimum wage.