8th July, 2011
The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria has lauded the six ACN governors for their stand on the contentious N18,000 minimum wage. The party says it is a thing of joy that the ACN governors, by agreeing to pay the minimum wage to its workers, are showing the way on responsive and responsible governance.
In a statement signed by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Joe Igbokwe, the party said that with this development, the party has blazed the trail once again in the pursuit of the interests of the masses despite the obvious burden the payment of the new minimum wage will impose on the lean treasuries of the states.
The party urged the governors to pursue with renewed vigour the demand for the review of the revenue allocation formula so as to make the states more viable to attend to the needs of the people.
The party said:“We are proud that when contentions are mounting on the viability or otherwise of the payment of the new minimum wage, the ACN governors have come out to state they will pay this wage, thereby putting to rest the acrimonious contestations with labour unions, which threatens to spew forth in the days ahead.
“We are satisfied that the ACN governors have, once again, demonstrated that the people and their welfare remain paramount in the considerations of government and by this latest decision, have shown that the welfare of the people remains the cardinal objective of the ACN government at whatever level.
“We are confident that the ACN governors will weather the hard economic reality that attends the implementation of the new minimum wage and still meet the development needs of their states because they draw richly from a reservoir of progressive antecedents needed to give their states the best. We are confident that the ACN governors will still meet their campaign manifestos despite the new wages and give their respective states the best governance possible in these harsh economic times.
“However, we want the ACN governors to pursue vigorously the demand for the review of the revenue allocation formula with a view to divest the Federal Government of the hefty allocations it sits on while national infrastructure decay and give more allocations to the states and local governments.” The party also said in the statement: “We believe it is within the realm of a new economic formula that the states can comfortably meet the demands of improved salary for workers and take care of the many needs of the people. We urge the ACN governors to be in the forefront for the battle for true federalism as that is the surest possible ways for them to pay of their huge wage bills and leave a sparkling record of achievements in other aspects of governance.
The Lagos ACN, therefore, urged other governors to pay the new minimum wage, like their ACN counterparts to prevent a looming national strike and ensure better welfare for the malnourished Nigerian workers.
It said it believes that the nation’s economy will be greatly weakened by a national strike at this period, adding that the best possible way to prevent it is by acceding to pay the new minimum wage.