By Egena Sunday Ode
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has hailed President Bola Tinubu for expeditiously signing the new minimum wage bill into law.
He described the signing of the wage bill into law as a great day for all Nigerian workers.
Akpabio spoke to newsmen after emerging from the Council Chambers in Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja where he had joined President Tinubu in a brief ceremony to sign the bill.
He said: “I’m excited about the Nigerian worker and the national minimum wage amendment is for the whole nation; for the federal government, the states, the local governments, for the private sector, and even for individual employers.
“So I think this is a great day for the workers in the country. We are not only doubling the minimum wage, we have added something on top. Initially, it was N30,000, now it is N70,000.
“Like I said, this is minimum, this is not maximum. Any employer that has a capacity can pay as much as you want. But no Nigerian worker will offer services and be paid anything less than 70,000 from today.
“That is the implication of this act. It applies all over the nation. And we are excited that this is happening at a time like this through President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; a man who cares for the Nigerian workers. And you’ve seen what we are doing in the National Assembly.
“When it came, the entirety of the National Assembly moved and passed the bill in one day out of excitement. We felt that this was not something we could delay. So I think the workers are happy.
