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ALGON Rejects N62,000 Minimum Wage

Muazu-Maifata pointed out that even if local government executives allocated their entire monthly budget to salaries.

By Karo Oghenetega

As the discussion on the minimum wage continues, the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) declared on Monday that local councils cannot afford to pay the proposed N62,000 new minimum wage, citing the limited funds received from the Federation Account as the primary reason for their stance.

In an interview with journalists in Lafia, National President of ALGON, Alh Aminu Muazu-Maifata, explained that all 774 Local Government Councils in the country receive a monthly allocation of slightly over 18 percent from the Federation Account. He argued that these funds are grossly inadequate to cover the N62,000 minimum wage.

It is worth noting that representatives of the Federal Government and the private sector on the tripartite committee for the new minimum wage negotiation had proposed N62,000, while organized labor had reduced their demand from N494,000 to N250,000.

Muazu-Maifata pointed out that even if local government executives allocated their entire monthly budget to salaries, ALGON would still lack the necessary funds to implement the new minimum wage.

“Apart from payment of wages, we still have other responsibilities such as provision of affordable healthcare, education, security, traditional institution, rural roads as well as youths and women empowerment among others to contend with”, ALGON president declared.

Muazu-Maifata, the Chairman of Lafia Local Government Area (LGA) in Nasarawa State, stated that while the council chairmen support wage increases for civil servants, the revenue received by the local governments is insufficient.

The ALGON president called for an increase in the monthly allocations to the 774 LGAs across the country to enable them to pay the proposed minimum wage.

“I want to appeal for increase allocation to local governments in Nigeria. ALGON has a lot of responsibilities to meet up with the N62, 000 minimum wage”.

“We will also give priority to issues of security at the local level and attract interventions from development partners to our various councils,” Muazu-Maifata added.

“I also want to improve the on existing unity amongst the various LGAs Chairmen and administrations in the country in order to better the lives of our people.

“Unity among LGAs Chairmen will help us compare notes and come up with good policies and programmes to improve governance for the benefits of the people at the grassroots.

The ALGON leader also made a case for amendment of the constitution to make the tenure of office of LGAs officials uniform across the country for smooth administration., Promising that the association would work with other stakeholders to ensure full implementation of the area councils autonomy as enshrined in the country’s constitution.

“The tenure of office of LGAs officials should be made four years to enable them deliver on their campaign promises to the electorates. The tenure is three years in some states and two years in some other states which is not good for the administration at the local councils” stated.

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