MINIMUM WAGE: As strike looms, FG’s meeting with labour deadlocked again

The meeting the federal government called to discuss new minimum wage with organised labour was deadlocked on Monday.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Chris Ngige, minister of labour, Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance and six governors were in attendance at the meeting which held at the presidential villa, Abuja.

One of the governors told reporters that the meeting ended inconclusively.

He said though the governors were willing to pay the N30,000 new minimum wage demanded by workers, they lack the capacity to do so.

The governor said an emergency meeting of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum would be convened on Tuesday and the decision of the governors would be made known after this.

Last week, Ngige had said the federal government will decide on a new minimum wage on Monday.

He had said this after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja on Friday.

“I have come here to consult with the vice-president and Mr. President. On Monday, the economic team will meet and the governors are supposed to come so that the federal government will brief them on what is on the ground and we will see what they will be able to put to us, because the government side is still three tiers: the federal, states and the local governments. The Federal Government is the leader,” he had said.

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“So, we are inviting them to come so that we will listen to them again, tell them what we are doing and what we intend to do, because they even have members on that committee.

“So, on Monday we will have a very useful discussion before the tripartite committee will come and submit its report.”

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has been at loggerheads with the federal government over a demand for an increase in the minimum wage.

The congress has threatened to embark on a nationwide strike from November 6, if the minimum wage, currently N18,000, is not reviewed upward.

The presidency has said there might be a stalemate between labour and government if the N24,000 proposed by the federal government is not considered.

Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, had said N30,000 as minimum wage was not feasible even if public office holders sacrificed their pay.

 

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