President Bola Tinubu has directed Wale Edun, minister of finance, to present the cost implications for a new minimum wage.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, said the president had a meeting with the representatives of the federal government in the negotiation with the labour on the minimum wage.
The minister said the meeting was attended by George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF); Atiku Bagudu, minister of budget and national planning; Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, minister of state for labour and productivity, and Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited.
Idris said the president directed Edun to do the numbers and present the new minimum wage figures within two days, adding that the presentation would form the basis of negotiation.
The minister said Tinubu is committed to accepting the resolutions of the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage.
He added that the federal government is not against an increase in the minimum wage but wants to ensure that its promises are fulfilled.
“We were all there to look at all issues, and the president has directed the minister of finance to do the numbers and get back to him between today and tomorrow so that we can have figures ready for negotiation with labour,” the minister said.
“Let me say that the president is determined to go with what the committee has said, and he’s also looking at the welfare of Nigerians.
“The government is not an opponent of labour discussions or wage increases.”
The minister said the president directed that the committee should work together to give Nigerians an “affordable, sustainable, and realistic” minimum wage.
“All of us will work together assiduously within the next one week to ensure that we have a new wage for Nigeria that is acceptable, sustainable, and also realistic,” he said.
Earlier, organised labour “relaxed” its indefinite strike action for one week to negotiate with the federal government on a new minimum wage.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) had declared an indefinite strike, which started on Monday, over the failure of the federal government to meet their minimum wage demand. (The Cable)
