The Special Adviser on Information & Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, has claimed that it would be difficult for the Nigerian government to peg the new proposed minimum wage at N100,000.
Onanuga made this known in an interview with Arise Television.
According to him, the country’s current financial strength indicated that both the federal and the state governments would be unable to pay their employees’ salaries if N100,000 or more was eventually approved as the new minimum wage in the country.
Onanuga buttressed his assertion with the fact that most state governors were even currently struggling to pay the present minimum wage.
He said, “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?”
