Federal Government pushes sixty-two thousand naira pay despite Labour’s opposition over Minimum wage
The Presidency has insisted that the two hundred and fifty thousand naira minimum wage clamoured by Organized Labour is unsustainable, warning that the Federal Government cannot channeled all its resources to meet such a demand.
The warning comes two days after the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria raised concerns over the sixty-two thousand naira being proposed by the Federal Government.
The ALGON said if approved, the wage may put a strain on the councils’ financial burden.
On Tuesday, May 28, talks between the Federal Government and Organised Labour broke down after the government and the Organised Private Sector raised their offers to sixty-two thousand naira.
But the labour unions described the proposal as an insult to the intelligence of the average Nigerian worker, which deserves far better than what the government offered
Speaking in an exclusive interview with newsmen, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed that unless the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress were selfish, they should consider that the resources meant for the entire Nigerians could not be channeled to only the benefit of their members who are not more than 10 per cent of the entire population.
Tinubu had disclosed during his Democracy Day that an executive bill on the new national minimum wage for workers would be sent to the National Assembly.
When asked on when he plans to transmit the bill, Onanuga said though he could not give a particular date, he sees it happening after the Sallah break.
The presidential media aide also said the Federal Government might not meet the Labour leaders again unless something cogent turned up.
