NLC: Governors’ Attempt to Reverse N18,000 Minimum Wage a Declaration of War

22 Nov 2015
Nigeria ThisDay
NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba

Paul Obi in Abuja

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) on Sunday said attempts by the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) to reverse the present N18,000 minimum wage to a lower pay amounts to a declaration of war.

In a statement, NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, expressed worry over the move by the NGF to reduce the minimum wage.

He said: "The Nigeria Labour Congress is shocked by the statement credited to the chairman of the Governors Forum, Governor Abdulaziz Yari, that the N18,000 National Minimum Wage promulgated into law in 2011 was no longer sustainable because of the fall in the price of crude oil.

The governor who was speaking on behalf of his colleagues at the end of a meeting of the Forum also claimed that the National Minimum Wage was 'imposed’.

"We wish to make it abundantly clear that this attempt to reverse the National Minimum Wage is a declaration of war against the working people of this country, and we would have no alternative than to mobilize to respond to this act of aggression by the political class on our welfare.”