The Finance Minister and the Economy Coordinating Minister, Mr. Wale Edun, received orders yesterday from President Bola Tinubu to prepare the financial implications of a new minimum wage and deliver a reasonable, sustainable, and realistic amount today.
He asserts that the new offer from the government must be prepared by today in order to serve as the foundation for talks with organized labor.
In order to wrap up the negotiations on the new minimum wage as soon as possible, he also gave the parties participating in the process instructions to move quickly.
Recall that Labour began an indefinite nationwide strike on Monday and concluded it yesterday after rejecting proposals from the Federal Government of N48,000, N57,000, and N60,000.
When Tinubu called a meeting of the Federal Government’s representatives in the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage yesterday, he issued the directive.
Wale Edun, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, the Minister of State for Labor and Employment, Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, and Mele Kyari, the GMD/CEO of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, were among those present at the meeting with the President.
Following the meeting, Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, stated that President Tinubu had called the gathering to examine the divisive issues and come up with cooperative solutions.
The minister commented, “It has been quite challenging, but we thank God that we are at this point,” regarding the negotiations between the
Federal Government’s team and organized labor and whether or not a resolution may be reached in the next seven days. We are grateful to Labor for the early suspension of the strike by its leaders this morning (yesterday).
What they’re saying
“The President has instructed the Minister of Finance to perform the necessary calculations and report back to him by tomorrow (today), so that we may have some numbers prepared for discussion with labor.
“Let me also mention that the President is committed to following the committee’s recommendations. He is also considering Nigerians’ well-being. As I previously stated, the administration is not against having labor-related conversations. It does not oppose pay increases.
“The President has issued a directive to all government negotiators and representatives of other sectors, including the Organized Private Sector (OPS) and sub-nationals, to unite in order to negotiate a new wage award that is reasonable, tenable, and appropriate for Nigeria.”
“A pay award is not limited to that granted by the federal government, as previously stated. There is involvement from organized labor, the OPS, and the subnationals. It was an effort that was made during those exchanges.
“Now that we are back at the bargaining table, we will all work together, seriously, over the course of the next week to make sure that Nigeria has a new salary that is reasonable, sustainable, and acceptable for all Nigerians.”
Senate requests FG put an end to industrial disturbance.
In the meantime, the Senate requested that the Federal Government move quickly to implement a new minimum wage in order to put an end to the nation’s industrial unrest after adjourning from plenary yesterday.
It conveyed its displeasure with certain members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) for what it called their exaggerated conduct during Monday’s statewide strike.
The Senate expressed specific disapproval of certain unionists’ shutdown of the national grid, stating that the action was more akin to economic sabotage than a call for a higher minimum wage.
Conclusion
Lagos state lawyer,Femi Falana made a request urging the Attorney-General of the Federation to penalize states that do not provide the current N30,000 minimum wage.
He said that state administrations who were unable to uphold agreements made freely, such as the payment of the minimum wage, were in violation of the law.
