Nigeria’s Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate, Femi Falana, has said that the federal and state governments can pay the national minimum wage if stolen monies are recovered.
Falana stated this during an interview with Channels Television.
“All they need, including the Federal Government, is to muster the political will to collect and recover money either looted or withheld from the federation account,” he said.
Recall that an agreement on the new minimum wage is yet to be finalized between the organised labour and the federal government with the labour rejecting the N62,000 naira offered by the federal government.
During the last meeting held on Friday in Abuja, by the Tripartite Committee on the New Minimum Wage, organised labour brought down its demand from N494,000 naira to 250,000 naira, while the Federal Government increased its offer from N60,000 naira to N62,000 naira.
President Bola Tinubu had earlier stated at the democracy day dinner, on Wednesday in Abuja, that he will only approve what Nigeria can afford to pay as minimum wage.
“The minimum wage is going to be what Nigerians can afford, what you can afford and what I can afford” Tinubu said.
