Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra has advised President Bola Tinubu against approving a new minimum wage that states cannot afford to pay.

Soludo gave the charge while speaking on The Platform, a programme by Lagos-based church, Covenant Nation, to mark the 2024 Democracy Day.

The governor said he “pities” President Tinubu if he approves an “unsustainable” minimum wage for workers in the country.

The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) warned that not all state governments and the Organised Private Sector can pay the N62,00 being proposed by the Federal Government and the N250,000 demand of the Organised Labour.

He expressed concerns that an unsustainable wage might lead to job losses and spiral economic challenges in the country.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NUC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have vowed to reject federal government’s “starvation wage” of N62,000.

The unions, however, said that the president’s next move would determine their next line of action.

In his Democracy Day message to Nigerians, President Tinubu said that he will transmit the national minimum wage bill to the National Assembly in the coming days.