Discussion with the Nigerian labour leaders and federal government which would have served as smooth ride and fancy takeoff of President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2019 presidential campaign following the prior launch of ‘The Next level’ as campaign theme, ended up on Monday in deadlocks.
Though the meeting was behind closed doors with federal government and representatives of Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) over the disagreement between the organised labour and state governors on the proposed N30,000 new minimum wage (NMW), Business Hilights gathered that a clear truce on the matter is still far.
It was gathered further that President Buhari was concerned about the position of the governors who had claimed their inability to pay the new minimum wage except they downsize their workforce which the labour leaders are not ready to hear and entertain in the first instance.
Addressing the press at the end of the meeting, President of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, sounded a note of warning that Nigerian workers will not tolerate any governor or state that will not pay the agreed N30,000 and advised workers across the states to vote out any returning state governor or party that his body language shows lack of readiness to comply with the new minimum wage of N30,000 come 2019 elections.
Whereas the Tripartite Committee on New Minimum Wage (TCNMW) had submitted their report to Mr. President for onward transmission to the National Assembly for legislative action, what appears to be holding the move remains governors’ hard that they would either downsize or would not pay the N30,000.
