The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has stated that state governments have no excuse for not paying civil servants above the newly approved N70,000 minimum wage, pointing to rising federal allocations and the growing cost of living nationwide.

NECA’s Director General, Adewale Smatt-Oyerinde, stated this during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.

He argued that the surge in monthly revenues shared from the Federation Account has weakened the claims by some state governors that they cannot meet the new wage benchmark.

President Bola Tinubu signed the new minimum wage bill into law in July 2024, raising the national minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000 after months of negotiations with labour unions, the private sector, and lawmakers.

Since then, some states have gone above the federal threshold. On August 27, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma announced a new minimum wage of N104,000, while Ebonyi State approved N90,000 for its civil servants a day later.

Smatt-Oyerinde maintained that given these developments, no state could reasonably claim financial incapacity.

“No state really has an excuse in the context of the current reality to stay at N70,000, especially with people struggling with the price of petrol. While many states are still doing a lot with the CNG buses, more still needs to be done.

“A lot still needs to be done in the context of food security and shelter. Once you deal with that, the conversation would not really be about minimum wage because the quantum of that N70,000 will be able to buy enough for an average household.”

He stressed that workers remain critical drivers of both the public and private sectors, adding that poor wages weaken productivity.

“If you are hungry, if you have issues with shelter and transport, hardly would you be productive at work. Whatever will improve productivity will increase motivation, especially within the context of ongoing reforms.”

The NECA boss urged governors to view the civil service as the “engine that drives the system” and to treat workers as vital contributors to economic growth, not as expendable costs. He concluded by echoing the International Labour Organization’s principle that “workers are not commodities.”