Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, stated that both the federal and state governments could afford to pay the national minimum wage if funds lost to corruption were recovered.
He 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 organized labor and the federal government have yet to reach an agreement on the new minimum wage, with the latter rejecting the former’s proposal of N62,000.
At the most recent meeting of the Tripartite Committee on the New Minimum Wage, held on Friday in Abuja, labor reduced its demand from N494,000 to N250,000, while the Federal Government increased its offer from N60,000 to N62,000.
The proposed minimum wage might have to wait until July 2 due to the National Assembly being on holiday. During a show, a senior lawyer urged the Nigerian authorities to find the political will to implement the new minimum wage.
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