Why States may be unable to pay new minimum wage -Commissioner

Citizens listening with rapt attention

By YUSUF GOJE

Commissioner, Planning and Budget Commission Kaduna state, Mohammed Sani Dattijo has queried the rationale behind the proposed upward review of the minimum wage, which he said compels even states that are not viable to play ball.

Making the assertion at the recently concluded Citizens' Consultation forum on Medium Term Expenditure Framework 2019-2021 held in Kaduna, Dattijo said:"The minimum wage should be moved from the exclusive to the concurrent list, even though Kaduna state is healthier than most states, there are states that cannot afford the increase in minimum wage. If this is not done, the increase in minimum wage will only be on paper but difficult to implement by many states, resulting in labor disputes". He stressed that the exclusiveness of this piece of legislation which empowers only the Federal government to determine minimum wage in the constitution is a burden to many states of the federation.

Meanwhile, the event, the first of its kind in Kaduna state, attracted participants from civil societies and media organizations across the state, and was organized in fulfilment of the commitment of government to the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

While outlining the processes in generating the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), the commissioner remarked that "the biggest lie is that the budget is a technical document", which in essence is that it is not as difficult to understand as some people think.

He said hopefully, "the draft 2019 budget will be presented to the Kaduna State House of Assembly either by June or July before the electioneering campaigns starts. Kaduna state is probably the only State that took the Paris Club Refund to its State House of Assembly for appropriation".

A participant, from the Coalition of Associations for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment & Development (CALPED), commended the government for adhering to the 2016 Fiscal Responsibility Law, which mandates the government to engage the citizens during the formulation of the MTEF.

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