Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have welcomed the recent ruling of the Supreme Court on Local Government autonomy.
On July 11, the apex court declared it unconstitutional for state governors to hold onto funds meant for Local Government (LG) administrations. The court also barred governors from dissolving democratically elected Local Government councils in the country, stating that doing so would breach the 1999 Constitution.
A week after this landmark judgment, the PDP governors accepted the court’s decision but called for caution in its implementation. The PDP governors made their position known after a meeting held at the Enugu State Government House, Enugu, on Wednesday.
According to a communique issued at the end of the meeting by its Chairman, Governor Bala Mohammed, the Forum stated that it “will continue to support the autonomy of the Local Governments as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The governor emphasized that the Forum “believes in the efficacy of the local government system, which ensures that governance is brought closer to the people as provided for in the constitution.” He added that the Forum “holds the Supreme Court in the highest esteem and is committed to obedience to court orders. However, the Forum urges that implementation of the court decision must be done in a manner that does not create a trust deficit between the federal and sub-national governments while also ensuring that the system does not suffer.”
Minimum Wage
The opposition governors also addressed the demands by organized labor for an increase in the national minimum wage, stating that the workers’ unions’ call for a salary increment is “eminently justified” given the worsening economic hardship in the country. They cautioned, however, that any final agreement on the new minimum wage must be realistic and take into account the capacity of all tiers of government to pay.
“While the Forum fully supports labor’s demand, the agreement must take into consideration the ability to pay by the local government, sub-national, and federal government,” the communiqué reads. “While negotiations are ongoing, we appeal for restraint in both utterances and actions that could lead to a complete breakdown of law and order and ultimately, the collapse of the economy.”
Deliberations
Recently, labor unions, federal and state governments, and the private sector have been deliberating on a new minimum wage. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) proposed ₦494,000 as the new minimum wage, citing inflation and the prevailing economic hardship in the country, while rejecting the federal government’s proposed ₦60,000 offer.
To press home their demands, the labor unions grounded the nation’s economy on June 3 over the minimum wage dispute. On June 7, state governors under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) said a ₦60,000 minimum wage would be unsustainable.
At the last meeting of the tripartite committee, organized labor rejected the government’s ₦62,000 proposal and lowered its demand to ₦250,000. While the organized labor insisted on a ₦250,000 minimum wage, the Federal Government urged the unions to demand a more realistic and sustainable wage.
President Bola Tinubu directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present the cost implications for a new minimum wage.