By Egena Sunday Ode
President Bola Tinubu will consult with the 36 state governors and members of the organized private sector before pegging the figure that would finally be presented to the National Assembly as the new national minimum wage.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Idris also disclosed that a memo on the report of the new minimum wage which was listed for discussion at the Cabinet meeting was consequently stepped down, explaining that it is a matter that has to do with the governors and the organized private sector.
Accorsing to the minister, it is after a wider consultation with the relevant stakeholders that the President would then forward a figure that would be the national minimum wage to the National Assembly.
Recall that at the end of the Tripartite Committee meeting on new national minimum wage, the government team and the organized private sector offered N62,000 from the current N30,000 but the organized labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, demanded N250,000 living wage.
The decision of the President to consult the relevant stakeholders is coming on the heels of the statement by the President of the NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero, where he said that the organized labour had expected the President to reach out to the members of the Tripartite Committee to harmonize the figure.
Comrade Ajaero had hinged his position on the fact that there was a stalemate at the end of the Tripartite Committee.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, while briefing newsmen said, “I want to inform Nigerians here that the Federal Executive Council deliberated on that (report of the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage) and the decision is that because the new national minimum wage is not just that of the federal government, it is an issue that involves the federal government, the state governments, local governments, and the organized private sector and of course, including the organized Labour.
“That memo was stepped down to enable Mr. President to consult further, especially with the state governors and the organized private sector, before he makes a presentation to the National Assembly, before an executive bill is presented to the National Assembly.
“So I want to state that on the new national minimum wage, Mr. President is going to consult further so that he can have an informed position because the new national minimum wage, like I said, is not just an issue of the federal government.
“It affects the state governments, it affects the local governments, it also affects the organized private sector, and that is why it is called national minimum wage. It’s not just an affair of the federal government.
“So, Mr. President has studied the report and he’s going to consult wider before a final submission is being made to the National Assembly.”
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