The organised labour movement has expressed the expectation of Nigerian workers that the new minimum wage would be announced, passed into law, and its implementation begin before the end of July 2024.
President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Comrade Festus Osifo, made this known when he received the Special Adviser on Labour Matter from the Kogi State Governor, Onuh Edoka, and his delegation, who were in his office on Tuesday in Abuja, for a courtesy visit.
Osifo said there was a need for the national tripartite negotiation committee, made up of government, labour, and organised labour, to find a common ground so that the bill would receive prompt attention from President Bola Tinubu as well as the National Assembly and be passed into law.
He said: “What we are working on from both labour centres is that before the end of July, we should have a new minimum wage that must have passed through the processes and that must have been assented to by the President so that the plight of the workers will improve much more.
“So that the current economic challenges that we are facing as a country will be improved upon so that an average worker will be able to go to market and buy one or two things to take care of his or her family because of this skyrocketing inflation that we have today in our country.
“As you are aware, Labour has submitted 250,000 Naira, the government and organised private sector 62,000 Naira. Let both parties come together; let all parties come together.
“We will resolve and have a common front so that the President will be able to send the bill to the National Assembly, and at the end of the day, we will have a new national minimum wage. This is key; this is a topic that is germane for all labour unions today in Nigeria.”
Osifo, who commended the current government of Kogi State for the clarification of payment of the N30,000 minimum wage to workers in the state, however, noted that state governments should begin to put the necessary plans in place to begin implementation of the new wage once it is signed into law.
“We are not at this moment even dwelling on the N30,000 again. I was listening to a state, I think Nassarawa State, that said they started setting aside some money to meet the new obligations when the new minimum wage is passed. So I wish to also appeal that in Kogi, let that be the top priority amidst this scarcity of income, amidst this scarcity of revenue
“I wish to also use this opportunity to speak to all other states that they should be putting plans in place to implement the new minimum wage because, in Labour today, we are totally ready because when the new minimum wage Act is passed, we are going to follow it state by state to ensure that it is implemented.
“So let the workers have a sigh of relief and we have the trust and the belief that, with the high Labour representation in Kogi state government today, we believe that Kogi state government will do the needful.
“Let the state pay the new minimum wage when it is implemented and also manage the consequential adjustment so that at the end of the day, the workers will be better off for it.”
Earlier, the Special Adviser on Labour Matter to the Kogi State Governor, Onuh Edoka, noted that the current administration of Governor Ahmed Ododo has corrected all the shortcomings of the immediate past administration as far as worker welfare in the state was concerned.
While noting that the current governor has put some labour-friendly interventions in place, the SA added that it was seeking the support of the TUC to ensure Kogi State comes back into good light, away from the negative narrative in the past.
“We are coming from where we were carrying placards before saying we would not agree on issues of labour, but today this government has drawn us closer to see how we can add value to his government and see how we can speak for those workers we were fighting for before.
“Contrary to what NBS and the ministry of finance have said, we are here to set the record straight: Kogi State is paying the minimum wage of N30,000 as it ought to be.
“We genuinely call on you and all the headquarters of the congresses to see that Kogi State is no longer put in the light of a bad image.
“Kogi State was battered by news in the previous administration, but this government has come into office and has corrected it fully because it is a government of continuity and consolidation.
“Ododo is doing genuinely well, very well, and the workers are happy about it. All of us are giving him kudos for that, and we are praying that the government will continue in that manner.”
