States cannot pay minimum wage without sharing formula review- Umahi

Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, has stated that it would be difficult for state governments to pay the proposed minimum wage without a review of the revenue sharing formula.

Umahi was speaking on Friday in Abakaliki at the opening of the 2018/19 legal year of the Ebonyi judiciary.

“The balance of justice is that the country’s leaders should dialogue and allocate percentages to its various sectors which include workers’ salaries, education, infrastructure, judiciary, legislature among others.

“The burning issue currently in Nigeria is workers’ welfare which every right thinking person will support and I have said severally that N30, 000 minimum wage is not even enough for workers.

“It is my desire to improve on workers’ welfare but something must be done at the centre so that the states can breathe.

“To clamp the nut on the petroleum subsidy episode, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should be more transparent and accountable to the federation account,” he said.

He also noted that effective management of the nation’s resources would enable the government adequately took care of workers’ welfare and the three tiers of government.