Gombe State governor Inuwa Yahaya, chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, has raised concerns about the feasibility of implementing the new national minimum wage of N70,000.
Speaking at a meeting with labour leaders, civil society organisations, and traders associations in the state on Tuesday at the government house, Gombe, amid the threats of nationwide protests against hunger and hardship, Governor Inuwa revealed that Gombe State receives one of the lowest allocations, making it challenging to pay the increased minimum wage.
The governor noted that even the previously approved N30,000 minimum wage was a struggle for several state governments to pay.
He emphasised that the current economic realities make it even more challenging to implement the new wage structure.
Governor Inuwa also revealed that Gombe State had yet to receive the 20 trucks of rice pledged by the federal government for distribution to the state’s people to ameliorate their sufferings.
His Hausa address stated, “Even the N5 billion palliative said to have been given to states, Gombe State did not receive that. What I know we collected was N2 billion against the N5 billion said to have been given to states as palliatives from the federal government.”
However, he said the removal of the fuel subsidy, which caused hardship, was initiated by former president Muhammadu Buhari and was ‘only announced’ by incumbent president Bola Tinubu because it was not included in the 2023 budget.
He added that Tinubu could not send a supplementary budget for fuel subsidy to the national assembly because it was not inaugurated when he was sworn in on May 29th, 2023; hence, ‘he had no option but to announce the subsidy removal’.
The governor urged stakeholders to work together to find alternatives to protests, which he believes only lead to violence and destruction.