The Southern Governor’s Forum has called on stakeholders to allow each state negotiate the minimum wage it can afford to pay workers.

This proposal was submitted on Thursday June 27, a day after the Nigerian Governors’ Forum promised to continue to engage with stakeholders to reach a mutually agreeable solution over the controversies around the minimum wage.

In a communique on Thursday, the southern governors called for room to allow each state to negotiate the new minimum wage with organised labour.

The communique read in part: “The Forum discussed the minimum wage issues demanded by labour and unanimously agreed that the minimum wage should be reflective of the cost of living and that each state should be allowed to negotiate its minimum wage.

In another development, Imo State governor, Uzodimma denied the allegation of the NLC national secretary that the state has yet to start paying the N30,000 minimum wage.

The commissioner for information, public orientation and strategy of Imo State, Dec lan Emelumba, confirmed that the government has been paying N30,000 and recently increased it to N40,000 after fuel subsidy removal.