Governors of the states in the southern region of the country have demanded that each state should be allowed to negotiate its minimum wage with organized labour and other stakeholders.
This position was made known in a 16-point communique issued by Governors at the end of their meeting held on Monday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, under the auspices of the Southern Governors’ Forum (SGF).
According to them, the new minimum wage should be reflective of the cost of living and the ability to pay for each state, adding that such a move would be a true reflection of federalism.
The communique also called for the establishment of state police and stressed the resolve of the governors to adopt Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
The Governors commended President Bola Tinubu for the coastal road project and called for the repair of Trunk A roads and the transfer of roads to state governors who have indicated interest in repairing them.
The members of the forum further commended the President on the food palliative support to States, and the Governors were also commended for complementing the President in their various States through numerous initiatives ranging from food palliatives to transport allowances.
The Forum concluded that quarterly meetings will be held and rotated among member states
Below is the full text of the communique issued after the meeting of the Governors.
“At the conclusion of the Southern Governors Forum meeting held on Monday, June 24, 2024, and having paid respects to our immediate past Chairman, HE, the late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu; with condolences extended to his family, and appreciating the past Chairman for the solid foundation he laid by putting the forum in good stead; we the Governors resolved as follows:
1. Thanked and appreciated all member Governors for their support and commitment to the “Asaba declaration” of 2021, which was a resolve to ensure that Southern Nigeria produced the 2023 Presidential Candidate; we also thanked the Northern Governors’ Forum for their unwavering support for the resolution.
2. The Forum commended the laudable economic recovery reforms and policies of HE President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR and the implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda; and unanimously committed to supporting him in his unwavering resolve to reposition the country and build a greater future for us all.
3. The Southern Governors applauded the President for conceptualizing and commencing the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, which cuts across eight (8) states. We noted that this will create employment in the construction industry, boost productivity by drastically reducing travel time, promote tourism, and open up and integrate all the Southern States to increased trade and investment opportunities whilst enhancing the ease of doing business.
4. The Southern Governors advocated that the Federal Government should rehabilitate, repair and reconstruct Trunk A roads and transfer roads to States that have expressed interest in taking them over.
5. The Forum will commission a regional multimodal transport master plan that will prioritise connectivity of rail, road, air and water transportation, to facilitate interstate, intra-regional movement of persons, goods and services and thereby enhancing the ease of doing business .
6. Being the economic and industrial region of the country, the Forum highlighted the need to address the inadequate power supply in the region. Member states were encouraged to take advantage of the recent constitutional amendment that now allows States to regulate, generate, transmit and distribute electricity whilst also considering optional sources like renewables.
7. The Forum resolved further to aggressively embark on energy transition plan from fossil fuels (petrol and diesel) to cleaner energy and specifically CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and ultimately EV’s (Electric Vehicles) to help reduce the cost of transportation, which will lowe
