In response to the ongoing debate over a new minimum wage for Nigerian laborers, organized labor has declared that it is not focused on a specific amount.
Last week, the tripartite committee on minimum wage concluded its discussions and presented President Bola Tinubu with two amounts to serve as the new minimum salary.
Organizing labor is calling for ₦250,000 as the new minimum wage, while the government and organized business are suggesting ₦62,000.
Festus Osifo, the president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), disagreed, saying that there is always opportunity for revisions during his appearance on Channels Television’s breakfast show, The Morning Brief, on Friday.
According to Osifo, “We stated that when we provide figures, there is always room to meander and for us to make some adjustments here and there.”
Therefore, no figure is untouchable or so engraved in stone that both sides would get obsessed with it. When it reached N60,000, they informed us that a kobo could not even join the N60,000, nor could they add one naira to it.
This was one of the reasons we went on industrial action the last time. “Thus, in addition to the delays, that was one of the factors that prompted that industrial action.”
It is anticipated that President Tinubu will forward an executive bill to the National Assembly for possible legislative action. The president of the TUC stated that while they will not overrule the President, they are doing everything within their power to defend Tinubu’s decision to stand with the labor union rather than the government and organized business.
According to him, the parliamentarians would still approach the President and insist that they take much more action even if the President sends a figure to the National Assembly that is unfavorable to labor.
Osifo promised that labor leaders’ efforts would not stop until the Minimum Wage Act of 2024 is signed into law. He stated that speculating on what labor will accomplish if what is passed is not acceptable to them at the end of the day.
President Tinubu, meantime, has declared that he will only support increases in the minimum wage that the government can afford.
At a luncheon held in honor of Nigeria’s 25 years of uninterrupted democracy in Abuja on Wednesday, he made this statement.
He remarked, “I have to celebrate with you, my dear brother, Senate President, Deputy Senate President,” and that he will shortly be sending an executive bill to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and his deputy, Jibrin Barau, on the new minimum salary.
“What Nigerians can afford, what you can afford, and what I can afford will be the minimum wage.” If you have a size at all, cut your coat to fit you,” he said.
Chukwuma Soludo, the governor of Anambra State, expressed sympathy for President Tinubu should he decide to accept a minimum wage that is “unsustainable” for workers nationwide.
The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a warning, stating that not all state governments, organized private sector, and the federal government could afford to pay the ₦250,000 that organized labor demanded and the ₦62,000 that the federal government offered.
On Wednesday, Soludo gave a speech at The Platform Nigeria, an event organized by Covenant Nation, a Lagos-based church, in honor of 2024 Democracy Day.
However, you also need to return to reality when discussing these MSMEs, the churches, the schools, and so forth. Your driver will be at your expense. Everybody is involved. We will get by no matter what they decide, but maybe we should get together to talk about the repercussions after a year.
“I feel sorry for the President since everything will be on his shoulders if the negotiations fail, whether the terms are unaffordable or not. In months to come, who will be accountable? Not me.
The tripartite group concluded its deliberations with the two estimates last week, capping months of debate about a new minimum wage.
The government increased their initial ₦60,000 by ₦2,000 and gave workers ₦62,000, while labor reduced its previous demand from ₦494,000 to ₦25,000.
The President received the reports from both parties and is likely to decide and send an executive bill to the National Assembly for approval of a new minimum wage bill that the President would sign into law.
