Subsidy Removal: All States Can Pay Minimum Wage, Says Falana

In the wake of the strike by organised labour, Femi Falana (SAN), says no state can claim inability to pay the minimum wage following the  Federal Government’s removal of subsidy. 

He stated this during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, adding that the government cannot stop labour from embarking on industrial actions.

“There is no state in Nigeria today that cannot pay more than the minimum wage because the government removed fuel subsidy last year and President Tinubu told Nigerians that the money made from that policy will be used,” Falana said.

“Any state government or employer of labour that does not pay the national minimum wage, we have agreed this time around (our law firm and the labour unions) we are not going to allow the non-payment of wages. They will be dragged to court.

“We are going to ensure the law is complied with, including the fact that we will be paying the court to make an order, deducting what belongs to the workers monthly from the source in Abuja. We cannot go like this.”

Prosecute States

During the show, the human rights lawyer asked the Attorney General of the Federation, to sanction states that fail to pay the current N30,000 minimum wage.

He said since the payment of the minimum wage is an agreement entered into freely, state governments unable to honour such a deal are breaching the law.

“Once a new agreement, a new minimum wage becomes the law of the country. The Federal Government has a duty, and the Attorney General of the country has a duty to drag any state government that does not pay to court

“I mean, the attorney general can just file a new case, which is a good development, by saying over the years, we have accused state governments of diverting monuments for local governments,” he said.

Falana also said state governments will be compelled to pay the minimum, as he is pushing for the deduction of workers’ salaries from the source.

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