As the negotiation on the new minimum wage template continues, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) has said that local councils cannot afford to pay the proposed N62,000 as new minimum wage because of the lean allocation from the Federation Account.

Mr. Aminu Muazu-Maifata, the National President of ALGON, stated this while speaking to newsmen in Lafia, the Nasarawa state capital, on Monday.

Muazu-Maifata, who is the Chairman of Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, explained that all the 774 Local Government Councils across the nation got allocation of about 18 per cent from Federation Account monthly, adding that the funds were not enough to pay the N62,000 minimum wage.

Daily Trust reports that representatives of the Federal Government and the private sector at the tripartite committee for the negotiation of new minimum wage had proposed N62,000, while the organized labour scaled down from N494,000 to N250,000.

He, however, maintained that even if the local government executives decided to set aside the entire monthly allocations for salaries, ALGON would not have resources to implement the new minimum wage.

He said, “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.”

He stated that although council chairmen had thrown their weight behind wage increment for civil servants, the revenue to the local government could not accommodate N62,000.

ALGON president begged for increase in the monthly allocations of the 774 LGAs in the country to enable councils pay the proposed minimum wage.

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, pledging 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 electorate. 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,” he added. (Daily Trust)

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