Kingsley Moghalu, presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), says there will be “massive” inflation if a minimum wage of over N30,000 is approved.
Organised labour is agitating for an increment of the present N18,000 minimum wage to N30,000, a proposal, for which has been submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Commenting on the development in an interview with journalists, Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said: “Paying a minimum wage of over N30,000 now will create massive inflation in the country.
“I stand with labour unions in their demand, and I also know that N18, 000 minimum wage is poverty wage, however, in handling the economy, care must be taken to avoid decisions that may crumble it.
“If Nigeria has constant electricity alone, it will have tremendous positive impact on the economy.”
On the 2019 general election, Moghalu said inducement will play little or no part in deciding who wins.
According to him, some politicians may want to buy votes but Nigerians cannot be fooled any longer into selling their votes.
According to the presidential candidate, Nigeria’s security issues are compounded by the nation’s porous borders, adding that the country had lost significant part of its territorial control at the borders, which must be addressed.
“We need to properly demarcate our borders and man them efficiently, using combined border security forces.
“Our borders with Chad, Niger, Cameroun and Benin are so porous that we have so many non-citizens troop in daily, commit crimes and leave undetected,” he said.
He said that there was need for Nigeria to step up security surveillance.
The presidential candidate warned that if not handled well; it might affect the conduct of the 2019 general elections, adding that INEC might not be able to hold elections in volatile areas.
Moghalu also reiterated the need for the Nigeria Police Force to be reformed and more personnel recruited to reinforce the efforts of the force in checking break down of law and order.
Meanwhile, Mr. Donald Duke, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has called on the Federal Government to find a comprehensive and longterm solution to the lingering minimum wage crisis in Nigeria.
Duke made the call in a statement on Saturday in Calabar.
The presidential candidate said that the present “fire brigade” response was tantamount to giving a shortterm solution to a longterm problem.
He also described such an approach as inherently faulty and unsustainable, hence the incessant resurgence of the issue with every administration.
Duke, therefore, called for a holistic and systemic approach to addressing the issue, adding that identifying and addressing the real needs of civil servants would be the best approach to solving the lingering problem.
He listed some of the needs to include food, housing, transportation, health, children’s education, and security rather than focusing on salary increases.
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