A human rights lawyer Femi Falana has called on the Attorney General of the Federation to sanction states that fail to pay the current N30,000 minimum wage.
According to him, state administrations that are unable to uphold agreements made freely, such as the payment of the minimum wage, are breaking 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,” he said on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
“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.”
With the fuel subsidy removed and the naira floating, calls for a new minimum wage have increased dramatically due to the country’s soaring cost of living.
Despite multiple discussions, the federal governments and labor unions have not been able to come to a consensus on a new minimum wage. Workers stopped working on Monday due to frustration with the current situation, which halted business operations in vital industries.
But Falana contends that states cannot claim a shortage of funding for minimum wage payments because they now have more money as a result of the withdrawal of subsidies.