The governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, has come out point blank to say that not only can his state not pay the proposed N30,000minimmum wage, but so does up to 95 percent of state in Nigeria.
He said this while commissioning a fact-finding committee to ascertain the mode of payment of promotion arrears in the states in the states in the South East, in his capacity as the Chairman of the South East Governor's forum.
Hear him:
“The federal government collects 52 per cent of the revenue from the federation account and when I tried to put the N30,000 figure to Local Government Areas (LGA) it means they will borrow N1billion to add to their allocation, in paying salaries.
“I will definitely not be a governor to govern such a state and will never preside over a state that will allocate 100 per cent of its earnings to pay salaries,” he said.
He maintained that the minimum wage issue was not sustainable, likening it to "putting water in a basket and praying to God to hold the water'.
There are a lot of angles to this. Yes, it may be true that at the going rate it may not be sustainable going by the allocations accruing to the states from the federation account. but at he same time, there is a lot you can do as the governor. There is something you can do about cutting down the retinue of aides and assistants that are more or less redundant. the state could save a lot of money from that alone.
Again, Ebonyi state is blessed with limestone and lead, among other resources. It can be harnessed to increase the internal revenue for the state to solve most of the problems you cry to the centre for. Never mind the derivation clause which vests authority of mining to the government; it has been so because the voices which clamour to change that status are few and far flung.
Something can be done, sir. If you and other governors get down to this religiously, a lot would change.
He said this while commissioning a fact-finding committee to ascertain the mode of payment of promotion arrears in the states in the states in the South East, in his capacity as the Chairman of the South East Governor's forum.
Hear him:
“The federal government collects 52 per cent of the revenue from the federation account and when I tried to put the N30,000 figure to Local Government Areas (LGA) it means they will borrow N1billion to add to their allocation, in paying salaries.
“I will definitely not be a governor to govern such a state and will never preside over a state that will allocate 100 per cent of its earnings to pay salaries,” he said.
There are a lot of angles to this. Yes, it may be true that at the going rate it may not be sustainable going by the allocations accruing to the states from the federation account. but at he same time, there is a lot you can do as the governor. There is something you can do about cutting down the retinue of aides and assistants that are more or less redundant. the state could save a lot of money from that alone.
Again, Ebonyi state is blessed with limestone and lead, among other resources. It can be harnessed to increase the internal revenue for the state to solve most of the problems you cry to the centre for. Never mind the derivation clause which vests authority of mining to the government; it has been so because the voices which clamour to change that status are few and far flung.
Something can be done, sir. If you and other governors get down to this religiously, a lot would change.
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