By VICTOR AHIUMA_YOUNG JIMOH BABATUNDE WAHAB ABDULLAHI & DANIEL ETEGHE
LAGOS – INDUSTRIAL crisis appears imminent across the country as Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State who is also the chairman of Governors’Forum declared, Tuesday, that many states will not be able to pay the N18,000 minimum wage for workers as passed by the National Assembly recently.

This was just as the organised Labour warned the governors to avoid war with workers by their refusal to pay the minimum wage

Governor Saraki, who spoke with airport correspondents on arrival in Lagos for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, campaign in the state with the Vice President, Arc. Namadi Sambo, said politics apart, many states will have problems implementing the N18, 000 minimum wage as passed by the National Assembly

Saraki said: “Some states are going to have a lot of challenges with implementing it, not because they don’t want to implement it, not because they don’t believe that workers should have the minimum wage but you know the realities that we are facing, so there will be some states that will have challenges actually.”

While explaining that he is worried like every other Nigerians about the implementation of the minimum wage, Saraki said “I think that very soon there will be a forum that will allow us look at the issue of implementation, but there is no doubt about it except we want to play politics with it.”

He added “Look I have two more months to go but I really have to put myself in the shoes and I think that all of us as stakeholders we need to think of the workers and don’t play politics with it. that is my own opinion.”

Organised labour, in its reaction warned state governors against refusing to implement the N18.000 new Minimum wage, to avoid war with organised labour. It said “for social justice, for peace and industrial harmony and to avoid what is happening in North Africa and other parts of the Arab world from happening in Nigeria, the governor must pay”.