TheCable

Seriake Dickson, governor of Bayelsa, says there is a need to review the revenue sharing formula currently in use to enable state governments pay wages to workers.

A statement by Francis Ottah Agbo, his chief press secretary, said the governor made this statement at the state’s workers’ day celebration themed, ‘Labour Movement in National Development: Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win’.

Gboribiogha John Jonah, deputy governor, represented the governor at the event.

“The minimum wage is a very serious issue in the country, but we must also be cautious how we go about it. The states must have inputs because we should not make promises that we cannot fulfill,” he said.

“As we speak, some states can’t pay the 18 percent minimum wage because of the existing revenue sharing formula between the federal and other tiers of government.”

At the end of every month, the three tiers of government meet with the federation accounts allocation committee (FAAC) to share revenue accrued in the previous month.

Oil producing states also get 13 percent extra as derivative revenue.

In his remarks, John Ndiomu, chairman of the Bayelsa chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, called on the state government to make efforts in clearing the remaining arrears to all categories of workers.

He said the call has become imperative in view of the significant improvement of monthly allocations from the federation accounts.