Barring any last-minute changes, the federal government may announce N200,000 as the new minimum wage for it’s workers.
PLATFORM TIMES reports that the organiser labour had demanded N200,000 as a new minimum wage for the workers to cushion the effects of the economic hardship as a result of subsidy removal.
PLATFORM TIMES gathered that the issue had been discussed at the last month’s National Economic Council meeting.
PLATFORM TIMES further gathered that at the meeting the Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission made a presentation on how the federal government can meet up with the demand of N200,000 per month minimum wage.
Sources at the presidency have been quoted to have hinted that President Bola Tinubu was favourably disposed to the idea of N200,000 as minimum wage per month.
Meanwhile, state governors are urging for caution while Anambra State governor Charles Soludo has been asked to chair a Technical Working Group (TWG) to resolve the issues and its various dimensions.
At the NEC meeting which the president inaugurated in June, the Salaries & Wages Commission costed the financial implications of the said minimum wage increase and showed how the federal government could pay it, with a certain recommendation that it was well within the capacity of the federal government. But at the meeting the state governors who make up the membership of the NEC raised questions over the proposal.
Leading the governors at the meeting was Anambra State governor, Prof Charles Soludo who argued that before adopting the presentation to significantly raise the national minimum wage, it would be important for NEC to first understand where the money would come from, how much would come and what states would get.
Part of the expectations and planning is that with the new foreign exchange policy more cash would be available to be shared by the federal and states governments under the FAAC monthly distribution. In which case according to informed sources there would be enough surplus cash to enable the significant raising of the minimum wage from N30,000 to N100, 000 monthly.
Similarly, the savings from the fuel subsidy would further mean more cash inflow to the federation account.
At the June NEC meeting, a sub-committee was formed to review the situation as was publicly announced, composed of governors led by Kebbi State governor with six other governors among the members. They are the governors of Anambra, Benue, Kaduna, Bauchi, Cross River and Oyo states with each representing the six geopolitical zones.
In the sub-committee are also the director-general of Budget Office of the Federation, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Accountant General of the Federation and the representative of NNPCL. Others included representatives from the organised labour (TUC and NLC) and Ms. Rukayyat El-Rufai, according to a statement from the Office of the Vice President who is NEC’s chairman.
The sub-committee at its meeting soon after the NEC last month, formed a Technical Working Group, TWG, with Governor Soludo as chairman to interrogate the issues around raising the minimum wage understanding that it is both the federal and state governments and not just the federal government that would be responsible for the payment of the new minimum wage.
Under Soludo’s leadership the TWG has met at least thrice last month; on the 24th, 27th and 30th respectively.
In one of its major resolutions the TWG resolved that negotiations with labour must be two-tracked between the federal government in one hand and the state governments in another hand.
Later this month the NEC would meet to receive the report of the sub-committee and take a final decision on the national minimum wage which would then be forwarded to the president as an advisory.
It was further gathered that what is most likely is that at the very least federal government workers would be receiving the huge minimum wage increase, while the Soludo TWG would determine the fate of the states’ workers.
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