Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State on Wednesday in Abakaliki, the state capital, declared that 95 per cent of states in the country cannot pay the proposed N30, 000 minimum wage to workers.
Mr Umahi, who is the Chairman of the South East Governors Forum, said this while inaugurating a 36-member fact-finding committee to ascertain the mode of workers’ promotion arrears payment in states across the six geo-political zones of the states.
According to Mr Umahi, the payment of the N30, 000 can only be realised if the federation account allocation formula is reviewed to offer more earnings to states.
“The federal government collects 52 per cent of the revenue from the federation account and when I tried to put the N30,000 figure to Local Government Areas (LGA) it means they will borrow N1billion to add to their allocation, in paying salaries.
“I will definitely not be a governor to govern such a state and will never preside over a state that will allocate 100 per cent of its earnings to pay salaries,” he said.
The governor recommended that the issue of petroleum subsidy in the country should also be reviewed as had been noted by the state and federal governments.
“We must presently have the courage to say this because a lot of money can be saved from the subsidy if properly distributed.
“When 100, 000 litres of petrol is allocated to me for instance and deducted from my allocation, it is then my business to ensure that there is no leakage.
