Since Tuesday evening when the news filtered that the National Council of State has approved a minimum wage of N27,000 which is N3,000 short of the N30,000 earlier recommended by the tripartite committee, there had been mixed reactions from both government and labour leaders.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rejected the N27,000 new national minimum wage (NMW) adopted by the National Council of States on Tuesday.
However, in a swift response, the NLC Secretary-General, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, saying the council has no jurisdiction determining another amount after a Tripartite Committee had submitted its report.
“It is abysmal of government to be delaying the submission of an Executive Bill to the National Assembly and by wrongfully adopting N27,000 through the council of states,” he said.
Besides, Ozo-Eson said the NLC has scheduled an emergency National Executive Council meeting for Friday to weigh on the deadline given to government within which to submit an executive bill to the National Assembly.
The NLC scribe added that the Federal Government was only projecting a shutdown of the economy with its latest action.
Explaining the details, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said the Federal Government will be topping the approved amount by N3,000 to 30,000 for its workers to bring it at par with the earlier recommendation. This means that whereas the federal workers earn N30,000, state workers will be on N27,000 minimum wage.
Though the decision of NCS seems final and suggest setting aside of the tripartite committee position, observers say the best bet for labour and oraginsed private sector is to accept the new deal to avoid hiccups in the fast approaching general elections.
If the deal sails through, it means that the stage is set for legislation to give legal teeth to the new minimum wage regime.
Accordingly, Business Hilights Abuja Bureau reports that some contacted labour leaders have given their approval in principle, meaning that all is set for a minimum wage bill to be sent to the National Assembly beginning from today, Wednesday.
Explaining more, Ngige averred that states are at liberty to augment the new agreement according to their individual strength. The amount approved by the Council of State is N3,000 short of the N30,000 that the Tripartite Committee on Review of National Minimum Wage recommended.
The committee, chaired by a former Head of Service of the Federation, Ms Ama Pepple, had submitted the report, which contained the recommended figure, to President Muhammadu Buhari on November 6, 2018.
Analysts say with the latest decision, the stage is set for general elections as the major issue that would have marred the election is almost settled pending on NLC’s decision on the matter on Friday this week.
