Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
A meeting of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), origionally scheduled to hold, ahead of today’s National Economic Council (NEC), over the N30,000 minimum wage, failed to hold yesterday.
Out of the 36 governors that are members of the Forum, only the governors of Zamfara, Bauchi, Jigawa, Niger and Adamawa states made it to the meeting. Deputy governors of Kaduna and Enugu, Nasarawa and Katsina were also present.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari, will, today, consult with the NEC, headed by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, on the minimum wage. The NEC comprises state governors and relevant federal ministries and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, told State House Correspondents, at the end of the emergency meeting that the matter would still be forwarded to the NEC, before further action would be taken.
Organised Labour is poised for showdown with government as they insist on nothing less than N30,000, which most state governors have said they will go bankrupt if they pay more than the current minimum wage of N18,000.
Meanwhile, Director General of the President Muhammadu Campaign Organization, Rotimi Amaechi, met with governors of the All Progressive Congress (APC) at the secretariat at the NGF, yesterday.
Amaechi got to the meeting just as People’s Democratic Party governors were leaving.
The agenda of Amaechi’s meeting with APC governors was not known as at press time but it might not be unconnected with the ongoing campaign of the ruling party.