…Insists on review every 3 years
…As agreement ends strike over minimum wage
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The organised Labour said they have accepted N70,000 as the new minimum wage President Bola Tinubu just approved for Nigerian workers.
Speaking with newsmen after a meeting with Tinubu at Aso Villa on Thursday, Comrade Joe Ajaero, President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said the unions had accepted the offer.
Comrade Festus Usifo, President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and other representatives of Nigerian workers, who attended the meeting were with Ajaero when he spoke with the press.
Ajaero said the unions agreed to the offer because of other incentives attached.
Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information, had told State House correspondents that the president announced the offer at a meeting with the labour leaders at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, on Thursday.
He said another reason for accepting the offer is because the president promised a review every three years as against what obtained in the past.
The new N70,000 minimum wage adopted by the Federal Government after consultation with the Organised Labour on Thursday will be reviewed after three years.
Alhaji Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, said this while addressing State House correspondents.
He disclosed this after the meeting between representatives of the Federal Government led by President Bola Tinubu and the Organised Labour.
The Minister also said President Tinubu agreed that the national minimum wage review would no longer be done every five years.
Idris also said President Tinubu would perfect the proposal on the new minimum wage in a bill to be forwarded to the National Assembly next week.
“We’re happy to announce today that both the federal government and Organised Labour have agreed on an increase on the N62,000.
“The new national minimum wage that we expect to be submitted to the National Assembly for legislation is N70,000.
“But that is not all. Mr President has assured of massive investment in infrastructure. There is also a deepening of the investment of the Federal Government in renewable energy,” he said.
Idris said to complement the new minimum wage, the Federal Government would ramp up the rollout of Compressed Natural Gas-powered buses in order to check the high cost of transportation.
He said that efforts were also being made to improve the economy and reduce inflation, including the recent directive on the suspension of duty on certain food imports to bring down the prices of food items.
Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Minister of State for Labour, said that the issue of minimum wage was not that of the law and not who was right, or who would blink first.
“He said that he is our father, like he has always said. That, first and foremost, the review of this minimum wage policy has to be reduced to three years, that five years is too long a time to get any minimum wage review.
“And of course, that Labour should look at the indices of the economy and accept N70,000, minimum wage,” she said.
Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said that the labour unions agreed to the new minimum wage, shifting ground from their original N250, 000 proposal.
“The amount of N70,000 happens to be where we are now. But the good thing about it is that will not wait for another five years to come for review.
“Rather than settling on a figure that we wait for five years, is like we’ll have to now negotiate even two times within five years, with a view to going up.
“That is one of the reasons we decided to reach where we are today. Because of the proviso that we can review in the next three years,” he said.
He also spoke on strike embarked upon on Thursday by the Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions.
Ajaero said the President had asked the agencies concerned to work out the modalities for the payment of those workers in the universities.
Festus Osifo, president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), said the catch on the approved wage was the issue of five years review, which Labour had been pushing for.
“The next review will be in three years. And after that, pronouncement, we from labour we have received what the President has promised from both ends,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the N70,000 minimum wage is about 133 per cent increase over the old minimum wage of N30,000, which came into effect in 2019.
President Tinubu had met with Organised Labour over the new minimum wage last week where he declared that Nigerian workers deserved improved welfare, better wages, as well as safe and enhanced working conditions.
The President also said he was concerned about the welfare of Nigerian workers and that his administration was working on a wage that will beacceptable to all.
It would be recalled that President Bola Tinubu has approved a new minimum wage of N70,000 for Nigerian workers and pledged to review the national minimum wage law every three years.
This is coming after the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress met with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement on X, confirmed the development.
“President Bola Tinubu has approved N70,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers with promise to review the national minimum wage law every three years.
“President Tinubu also promised to find ways to assist the private sector and the sub-nationals to pay the minimum wage.
“President Tinubu announced the decisions at the meeting held with leaders of TUC and NLC on Thursday in Abuja, the second time the parties met in 7 days,” the statement read.
Onanuga further noted that labour leaders praised President Tinubu’s “fatherly gesture”, and the President also vowed to exercise his executive discretion to address the outstanding four months’ salaries owed to university unions.
