President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, to present to him affordable, sustainable and realistic new minimum wage figures in the next two days.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Mohammed Idris, said this after a meeting between the president and government representatives on the minimum wage negotiation with organised labour.
“The President has just summoned a meeting of all those who negotiated on behalf of the Federal government led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The Minister of Finance was there, the Minister of Budget Planning, the Minister of Information, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, the Minister of Labour and the NNPCL GMD.
“We were all there to look at all issues, and the President has directed the Minister of finance to do the numbers and get back to him between today and tomorrow so that we can have figures ready for negotiation with labour,” he said.
He said the meeting with the president was convened to discuss all issues relating to the minimum wage negotiation and the demands of organised labour.
The minister said the president is determined to accept the committee’s resolutions with the organised labour and is committed to the welfare of Nigerians.
He highlighted the federal government’s concerns about ensuring a balance between its commitment and the realities in the country. He assured that the government is not opposed to wage increases but is working to ensure that any promises made are kept.
“And let me say that the President is determined to go with what the committee has said, and he’s also looking at the welfare of Nigerians.
“Government is not against or opponent of labour discussions, the government is not an opponent of wage increase but what is there is that government is always there to ensure a balance between what government pronouncement is and what the realities are on the ground.
“Therefore, we will work assiduously to ensure that whatever promises the government makes is a promise that will be kept. That is the idea of this meeting,” he said.
The minister said the president had given a matching order for government representatives, the organised private sector and the sub-nationals to come together to achieve a new affordable and sustainable wage award for Nigerians.
“The wage award is not limited to the federal government but also involves the sub-nationals and the organised private sector, which were absent during the initial negotiation process.
“The president has given a matching order that all those who have negotiated on behalf of the federal government and all those who are representatives of organised private sectors and the sub-nationals to come together to have a new wage award that is affordable, sustainable and that is also realistic for Nigerians.
“The wage award is not just that of the federal government. As I mentioned earlier, the subnationals are involved, and the organised privated sector is involved. It was the labour that stepped out during that procedure. We have all returned to the negotiation table,” he said.
The minister assured that all parties negotiating the new minimum wage will work with organised labour to present a new minimum wage for Nigerians within one week.
He said all the parties would work assiduously to ensure that the new wage is acceptable, sustainable and realistic for Nigerians.
“All of us will work together assiduously within the next one week to ensure that we have a new wage for Nigeria that is acceptable, sustainable and also realistic,” he said.
