Minimum wage: Tinubu, Labour meet Thursday, LGs demand more allocation

President Bola Tinubu will again meet with labour leaders on Thursday to reach a consensus on a new minimum wage just as the Association of Local Government of Nigeria demanded a new revenue formula in favour of the 774 local government areas in the country.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, told journalists after the 15th Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House, Abuja, on Monday, that Tinubu would hold a follow-up meeting with the labour leaders in continuation of his consultation with the stakeholders.

An amendment bill to the budget would thereafter be transmitted to the National Assembly after a consensus had been reached on a new minimum wage.

Last Thursday, the President and labour leaders held a meeting but no conclusive figure on a new minimum wage was reached and the session was adjourned until Thursday.

The Tripartite Committee on the New National Minimum Wage had submitted two separate figures to the President following a disagreement among the stakeholders.

While the government team and the organised private sector proposed N62,000, Organised Labour demanded N250,000.

On receiving the committee’s report, the President asked for more time to have a dialogue with the relevant stakeholders to harmonise the figures before transmitting an executive bill to the National Assembly.

Briefing correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting, the information minister said, “The government has directed the Ministry of Budget to also come up with additional support for the 2024 Budget so that any differential or any gaps that will exist in terms of what existed before the 2024 Budget was approved and the Supplementary Budget and also what the requirement is for now.

“Now, you are also aware that last week, the Nigeria Labour Congress met with Mr President. He had met the organised private sector, he had also met the sub-nationals after the tripartite committee on labour submitted its report, in order to ensure that there is a thorough analysis of the situation, so the government will come up with a minimum wage that works for all Nigerians, the Federal Government, the sub-nationals and organized private sector. That was also discussed today.

“So the government is working round the clock to ensure that it comes up with a minimum wage; like I said, that works for all Nigerians at the end of the day. This of course will be submitted to the National Assembly so that it can have legislative backing,” he said.

Idris explained that Tinubu was open to more consultations with the Organised Labour and its affiliates.

“We expect that meeting to hold this coming Thursday. Recall that this was already what the labour unions requested during their meeting with Mr President last week.

“So the President is in agreement, he knows that the Labour wants to quickly finalise this issue of minimum wage and the government is also anxious to put the issue of minimum wage behind it.

“So, it is expected that the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and all their affiliates, as requested by them last week, will meet the President on Thursday and after which the President will now transmit whatever the final agreements or what his views are on the tripartite committee’s report to the National Assembly for legislation,” Idris explained.

However, the government’s spokesperson said the council did not discuss the minimum wage figure as consultations are underway.

“The President and the Federal Executive Council and the Federal Government are not in opposition to the concept of wage increase.

“The issue has been a wage increase that we can defend, meaning a wage increase that will not lead to inflation, a wage increase that not just the Federal Government, but the sub-nationals and the organised private sector, can pay and something that is also sustainable.

“The President also mentioned that instead of waiting for a whole five years before wages are reviewed, we can actually look at these wages between two to three years. So, the discussion was not around the figure itself, it’s about the general parameters and the general principle of the wage increase itself,” he clarified.

The minister argued that the planned budget amendment was necessary to accommodate new fiscal developments, including the impending new national minimum wage.

Responding to concerns that Nigeria is running multiple budgets, Idris said, “It is not the case and that is why the Minister of Budget has been asked to submit this additional information to the National Assembly to make it take an informed position on most of these.

“Of course, it is the tradition of the executive to allow the National Assembly to unveil some of these things and that is why we don’t want to go into further details.