A chieftain of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi has said no worker can survive with the N48,000 minimum wage proposal by the federal government.
DAILY POST gathered that the meeting between the federal government and labour unions ended in a stalemate when the federal government proposed N48,000 as the new minimum wage.
Ajadi in his reaction, expressed dismay over the proposed N48,000 minimum wage by the Federal government.
The NNPP chieftain in a statement made available to DAILY POST on Thursday, said he followed with keen interest the meeting on negotiation of new minimum wages between the government and the Organized Labour.
He said that the government did not consider the current reality before it arrived at N48,000, maintaining that he agreed with the decision of the labour unions to reject the N48,000 proposal.
“The proposed N48,000 minimum wage is unrealistic in present-day Nigeria where Petrol is sold above N700 per litre in most filling stations. It is only the NNPC Filling stations that sell at N580 per litre. When we look at the prices of commodities in the market, especially foodstuffs, it will be unrealistic for an average worker to eat not to talk of sending their children to school with N48,000 monthly.
“I agree that there are so many dead woods in the civil service, people who come to work but are doing nothing. Maybe the government should consider the idea of paying workers per working hour so that those who are working genuinely will be adequately rewarded.
“I plead with the Federal Government to consider the survival of Nigerian workers and jack up the wage. Even states like Edo on its own have increased the minimum wage to N70,000.
“I agree with the decision of Labour to reject the N48,000 but rather than walking out of the negotiation meeting, Labour can reject the government proposal but should continue the negotiation.
“If labour agrees on anything less than N200,000, then they are unrealistic too. I want them to state and explain to the government delegation why no worker can survive on N48,000 minimum wage”,