Former presidential spokesman Doyin Okupe has stated that state governors should decide the minimum wage they can afford to pay workers. Okupe criticized the national minimum wage Act for mandating a uniform minimum wage across all states, arguing that laws should not compel all governors to follow the same standard.
Appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Okupe said, “We should not make laws that are un-encompassing, that make it compulsory for all governors in the federation to obey them. They are sub-nationalities on their own. If you pay a minimum wage in Lagos, why should I pay that in Sokoto? Let every governor decide for his own state by his own people that this is what I can afford.”
This discussion arises as the Federal Government proposes a new minimum wage of N62,000, while labor unions have reduced their demand from N494,000 to N250,000. The push for a higher wage led to an indefinite strike by labor unions on Monday, which was called off on Tuesday to allow for further negotiations. State governors have expressed concerns about their ability to pay even N30,000, let alone the proposed N60,000.
