Minimum wage doesn’t have to be universal – Peter Obi

– Peter Obi, vice presidential candidate of PDP, said states can determine what they pay their workers adding that minimum wage doesn’t have to be universal

– Obi, the running mate of Atiku Abubakar for the next presidential election, said he doesn’t believe that somebody in Lagos should earn the same thing as somebody in other states

– The vice presidential candidate who condemned the federal government’s borrowing plan, argued that the amount spent on infrastructure did not correspond with the level of borrowing

Former Anambra state governor and vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Peter Obi has joined the debate on national minimum wage and submitted the need for states to determine what they pay their workers based on their realities.

He said: “Minimum wage doesn’t have to be universal. I don’t believe that somebody in Lagos should earn the same thing as somebody who is in, maybe, Anambra state or somebody in Maiduguri.”

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that he, however, stressed that it was important to have a federal minimum wage which is the product of proper talks with labour.

If elected, Obi who is the running mate of Atiku Abubakar for the forthcoming presidential election on Politics Today, a programme of Channels TV said: “We will sit down with labour to find a constructive and acceptable decision.”

During his tenure as governor of Anambra state, he had expressed them. “I argued that every state is not the same. I said every state is not the same; every state won’t pay the same,”he said.

What is ideal for him is that: “There has to be a federal minimum, then each state, working within this minimum, can decide where they should go. That is what is obtainable all over the world”.

Asked what amount he thinks should be a minimum, he stressed that it would be determined at a meeting with labour, if his party wins the election.

“I can tell you this – you know what we are saying here – I am sure we will be able to come out with what is acceptable because I know we will sit down and discuss this constructively with the labour.”

Obi, who condemned the federal government’s borrowing plan, argued that the amount spent on infrastructure did not correspond with the level of borrowing.

He rubbished claims that the PDP’s campaign was not working, insisting that such claims were part of efforts to divert attention from the real issues.

“The issue in this campaign is about millions of unemployment campaign,” he said, adding, “We have millions of Nigerians who don’t know where the next meal will come from.”

Citing the ongoing ASUU strike, which has grounded academic activities in universities, adequate attention was not being paid to critical issues in the country.

The Nigerian civil service is considered bloated and inefficient by many, but Obi is confident that an administration led by him and Atiku can turn it around without much trouble.

He said: “You can make it work; you can make it to be productive. There is nothing about being overbloated. Yes, there might be issues but you can make it work. You can decide to make every worker, every employee to be productive.”

Meanwhile, TrackNews had reported that former president Olusegun Obasanjo said former Anambra state governor and vice presidential candidate of the PDP Peter Obi is not a saint.

According to Obasanjo, Obi could not be a saint because mortals cannot be one except if the person is dead and lives in heaven.

The former Nigerian leader noted that saints live in heaven and as such, saintly attributes could not be granted to mortals.