June 04, (THEWILL) – President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to come up with a new template for affordable, sustainable, and realistic minimum wage and present the figures within two days.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja, said the directive was given when the four-point resolution of the meeting between the Federal Government and the Organised Labour, reached late Monday night, was presented to the President for further action on Tuesday.
The report was presented to President Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa by the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, in the company of some Ministers and top officials of the Federal Government.
President Tinubu had on Monday, assured members of organised labour that he is committed to ensuring a minimum wage higher than N60,000 earlier proposed.
Idris said the President directed the Minister of Finance to present the new minimum wage figures that will form the basis of negotiation with organised labour. He assured of the President’s readiness to accept the committee’s resolutions with Labour in line with his commitment to the welfare of Nigerians.
President Tinubu also directed the government representatives to work with the organised private sector and the sub-nationals to achieve a new affordable and sustainable wage award for Nigerians.
The Minister assured that all parties to the negotiation of the new minimum wage will cooperate with organised labour to present a new minimum wage for Nigerians in one week.
His words: “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 and Economic Planning, the Minister of Information, 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.
“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 increases but what is there is that the government is always there to ensure that there is a balance between what the government pronouncement is and what the realities are on ground.
“And, therefore, we will work assiduously to ensure that whatever promises the government makes are promises that will be kept. That is the idea of this meeting.
“The President has given a matching order that all those who negotiated on behalf of the Federal Government and all those who are representatives of organised private sectors, 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 sub-nationals are involved, the organised private sector is involved; it was labour that stepped out during that procedure. Now we have come back to the negotiation table.
“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.”
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