President Bola Tinubu signs an executive order on local production of healthcare products
Eko Hot Blog reports that President Bola Tinubu has asked the national assembly to pass the minimum wage bill into law.
Tinubu’s request is contained in letters dispatched to the national assembly leadership.
The letters were read by Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house; and Senate President Godswill Akpabio, during plenary on Tuesday.
The bill seeks to formalise the N70,000 minimum wage recently agreed between the federal government and organised labour.
President Bola Tinubu addressing a Joint Session of the National Assembly
Recall that the agreement was reached at a meeting between President Tinubu and the leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) last Thursday in Abuja.
“We are happy to announce today (Thursday) that both the Organised Labour and the Federal Government have agreed on an increase on the N62,000 minimum wage,” Minister of Information Mohammed Idris told reporters
“The new national minimum that Mr President is expected to submit to the National Assembly is ₦70,000.”
NLC President Joe Ajaero, TUC boss Festus Osifo, Labour Minister Nkiruka Onyejeocha, and other officials from both sides flanked the minister.
Ajaero confirmed that ₦70,000 was where they were on the issue of the minimum wage.
He also said that part of the discussion was that the minimum wage would no longer wait till after five years to be reviewed. According to him, the agreement was that the minimum wage would now be reviewed every three years.
Stakeholders at the minimum wage meeting between the Federal Government and Organised Labour on Monday, June 3, 2024
Ajaero said the Organised Labour would consult with their members on the ₦70,000 benchmark.
“We were here last week. And we are here now. What they have announced in terms of the amount of ₦70,000 happens to be where we are now. But the thing about it is that we will not wait for another five years to come and agree,” Ajaero said.
On her part, Onyejeocha said Tinubu had also directed the Ministers of Finance and Budget, Wale Edun and Atiku Bagudu, respectively, to work out modalities on how to settle the issues with the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU).
The “agreement” between the two sides followed a series of talks between labour leaders and the President in the last few weeks after months of failed talks between labour organs and a tripartite committee on minimum wage constituted by the President in January.
The committee, which comprised state and federal governments and the Organised Private Sector, had proposed ₦62,000 while labour insisted on ₦250,000 as the new minimum wage for workers who currently earn ₦30,000 as minimum wage.
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