The Federal Executive Council (FEC) Tuesday stepped down the memo on national minimum wage to enable President Bola Ahmed Tinubu consult widely with governors, private sector employers and the organised labour.
Addressing State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting chaired by the president, Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris said an executive bill on the minimum wage would be sent to the National Assembly after the wider consultations by the president.
He said the wider consultations by the president was necessary because the new national minimum wage wasn’t just an issue for the federal government but also affects state governments, local governments and the private sector.
“I want to inform Nigerians here that the Federal Executive Council deliberated on that (report of the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage) and the decision is that because the new national minimum wage is not just that of the federal government, it is an issue that involves the federal government, the state governments, local governments, and the organized private sector and of course, including the organised labour.
“That memo was stepped down to enable Mr. President to consult further, especially with the state governors and the organised private sector, before he makes a presentation to the National Assembly, before an executive bill is presented to the National Assembly.
“So I want to state that on the new national minimum wage, Mr. President is going to consult further so that he can have an informed position because the new national minimum wage, like I said, is not just an issue of the federal government.
“It affects the state governments, it affects the local governments, it also affects the organized private sector, and that is why it is called national minimum wage. It’s not just an affair of the federal government.
“So, Mr. President has studied the report and he’s going to consult wider before a final submission is being made to the National Assembly,” he said.
…Workers look forward to July takeoff date
In a related development, President Trade Union Congress (TUC) Comrade Festus Osifo has said Nigerian workers expect a new minimum wage by the end of July, 2024.
Speaking Tuesday when the Special Adviser on Labour Matter to the Kogi state governor, Onuh Edoka, led a delegation to his office in Abuja, he said labour believes that the new National Minimum Wage would be passed and assented to by next month.
The TUC president added that a tripartite negotiation committee made up of government, labour and organised private sector needed to find a common ground so that the bill would receive prompt attention by President Tinubu as well as the National Assembly.
He said: “What we are working on from both labour centres is that before the end of July, we should have a new minimum wage that must have passed through the processes that must have been assented to by the president.
“So that the current economic challenges that we are facing as a country will be improved upon, so that an average worker will be able to go to market and buy one or two things to take care of his or her family because of this skyrocketing inflation that we have today in our country.
“As you are aware, labour submitted N250,000, the government and organised private sector, N62,000. Let all parties come together and we resolve and have a common front so that the president will be able to send the bill to the National Assembly and at the end of the day, we will have a new national minimum wage. This is key. This is a topic that is germane for all labour unions today in Nigeria.”