The Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has criticised governors who fail to pay their workers, saying such act is criminal.
Mr. Oshiomhole said this while delivering a keynote address at a town hall organised by the Kukah Centre on Wednesday.
He said the failure to pay salaries violates the labour law, which stipulates when workers should be paid.
Mr. Oshiomhole said it was immoral for governors and national assembly members who enjoy fixed benefits to complain of resources to pay the national minimum wage.
“One thing I cannot accept is that if you cannot have a decentralized system of compensation for executives, governors, commissioners and local government chairmen, how can these governors turn around and question the wisdom of a national wage structures for workers. It is that selective application of fiscal federalism that I found extremely offensive and unacceptable,” he said.
“Even today I remain firm that we must maintain a national minimum wage and we must find ways to implement and adjust it to reflect the cost of living and it is the duty of government and employers to find the revenue to pay those they hired to work whether in private of government employed. Non-payment of wages is a criminal breach of contract whether in recession or prosperity,” Mr. Oshiomhole said.
“When the minimum wage was enacted, governors said it was not payable. But I said it was not meant to be convenient but that it was a law and that government and governors must be seen to obey the law.
“When the National assembly said they will decentralise the minimum wage, I insisted that it cannot be,” he added.
Mr. Oshiomhole lamented the backlog of unpaid local government workers salaries across the country, , but said state governors should not be held responsible for failure to pay primary school teachers.
“As a governor I do not employ, pay or fire for the local government, so I cannot be responsible for that tier of government,” said Mr. Oshiomhole.
Earlier, former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke criticised the current administration of the All Progressives Congress for failing to deliver on its promised “change”.
Mr. Duke said politicians were engaged in selfish and fraudulent activities.
“Sadly politicians in our society today are mostly jobbers and budget padders. Advocating for themselves and not the society. They cleverly and surreptitiously apply the word change,” Mr. Duke said.
“I of course being a member of the PDP will not use that word; however improvement is a constant. Not being satisfied with how society is and seeking to better it, we advocate improvement not change.
“Don’t forget in 1966 we had a change, a violent one from a Democracy to Military. So change is not always necessarily the way to go. As for the change ‘we see dey so’, time will tell,” he said.