Politics

See Minimum Wage NLC Urges Tinubu to Accept

Published by admin on June 16th, 2024.

See Minimum Wage NLC Urges Tinubu to Accept

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on President Bola Tinubu’s administration to meet its demands for a new minimum wage, citing the current economic realities in the country. Naija News reports that the NLC also criticized a recent statement made by the President during a meeting with some governors and members of the National Assembly on the 25th anniversary of the nation’s Democracy Day.

President Tinubu had remarked that the government would only be able to pay its workers what the country could afford, saying, “Senate President, Deputy Senate President, you will get a notice from me if I have changed my mind on minimum wage. We are going to do it — what Nigeria can afford, what you can afford, what I can afford. They ask you to cut your coat according to your size if you have size at all.”

NLC spokesperson Benson Upah, in an interview with Punch, described the President’s statement as contradictory to his earlier promise to pay a living wage, which is superior to a minimum wage. Upah emphasized, “This will be in breach of his promise to pay a living wage. Moreover, there is unanimity of opinion that the government should accede to Labour’s demands based on practical realities.”

During his nationwide broadcast on June 12, marking the 25th anniversary of Nigeria’s democracy, Tinubu announced that a consensus had been reached on a new minimum wage between the Federal Government and Organised Labour. He stated that an executive bill would soon be sent to the National Assembly to formalize the new minimum wage agreement. “In this spirit, we have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with Organised Labour on a new national minimum wage. We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less,” Tinubu said.

However, the Organised Labour swiftly responded, denying that any agreement had been reached with the Federal Government’s Tripartite Committee on the new minimum wage. Acting President of the NLC, Adewale Adeyanju, stated that no agreement was concluded when negotiations ended on June 7, 2024. “Our demand remains ₦250,000, and we have not been given any compelling reasons to change this position. We are, therefore, surprised at the President’s assertion of a supposed agreement. We believe he may have been misled into believing that there was an agreement with the NLC and TUC. There was none, and we must clarify this to avoid confusion in the ongoing conversation around the national minimum wage,” Adeyanju said.

The NLC insists that its demand for a ₦250,000 minimum wage remains firm and that any assertion to the contrary will not be accepted.