Politics
NLC wants national minimum wage retained on exclusive legislative list
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has recommended the retention of the national minimum wage on the exclusive legislative list.
Alhaji Kabiru Minjibir, the Kano State Chairman of NLC council, gave the recommendation at a two-day zonal public hearing for the proposed amendment of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria on Wednesday in Kaduna.
Minjibir, who represented the NLC zone comprising Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa and Katsina states, said their submissions at different constitution review engagements were anchored on promoting inclusive socio-economic development.
“We also try to promote decent work, gender equality, respect for labour standards, good governance and strengthening of institutions,” he said.
He said that their submission for the minimum wage to remain in the exclusive legislative list was to ensure it remained implemented at the federal level and not brought down to the state where governors decide what to pay their workers.
“If the minimum wage is brought under the discretion of the state governors, then there will come a time when they will not pay their workers at all or they will decide to pay less of what it is being paid currently.
“Labour matters are governed by international standards as prescribed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO),” he said.
READ ALSO: Kwara NLC accuses govt of insincerity over minimum wage implementation
Minjibir said that once the ILO adopted any international labour standard, especially its conventions and protocols, it was demanded of member states through their national parliaments to ratify and domesticate them in their national laws not sub-national or state laws.
He called on the government to critically address the issue of pension reform, judicial, local government and legislative autonomy as part of resolutions in the constitutional review.
“The issues of electoral reform, gender equality, public revenue allocation, strengthening independence of oversight institutions, residency and indigene provisions, the immunity clause and state creation should also be critically looked into,” he said.
By Mayowa Oladeji
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...