Minimum wage: FG, Labour meeting inconclusive

Chris Ngige

The meeting started at about 12.50 pm with several breaks in between to allow for consultations with stakeholders including President Buhari.

The Nation gathered that the labour leaders insisted on a definite date when the government will transmit the minimum wage bill to the National Assembly,  a decision the three ministers present could not take on their own.

Addressing the meeting earlier, Ngige said the President was committed to giving Nigerian workers a new minimum wage.

He said however that in addressing the issue,  the government wanted to ensure that the new minimum wage was sustainable.

He said “I do realise that this is still part of the Christmas period and that people are still on holiday. You can see the two ministers in charge of government resources.  The Minister of Budget and National Planning and the Minister of Finance.  Mr President specifically asked them to be part of this meeting. We had to cut short our vacation because of the need for us to discuss.

“You know that people can go to war when there is a lack of information and in the process,  people can misconstrue and speculate. We called this meeting as a result of the communique issued by the Joint Labour Centres after your executive meeting in Lagos when you informed the government that you are not happy with the implementation processes of the report of the tripartite committee.”

President of the NLC,  Comrade Aruba Wabba said the organised labour has always wanted all issues of industrial relations resolved through dialogue,  adding that the issue on the ground has nothing to do with money,  but the process leading to the final outcome.

Wabba said “Clearly, we have always believed in social dialogue in resolving industrial relations issues.  From the beginning of the issue of this new national minimum wage which was legally due in 2016, labour has demonstrated enough patience and understanding and has followed all the processes to make sure that we are able to dispense with this issue.”


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