4th June, 2024
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun to come up with new minimum wage within two days to be presented before labour.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris disclosed this at the end of the meeting the president held with representatives of the government in the tripartite committee negotiating new minimum wage with labour.
Idris said the president had just summoned a meeting of all those who negotiated on behalf of the federal government led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Minister of Finance was there, the Minister of Budget Planning; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Minister of Labour, and the NNPCL GMD.
“We were all there to look at all issues and the president has directed the Minister of Finance to do the numbers and get back to him between today and tomorrow so that we can have figures ready for negotiation with labour,” he said.
The minister said the president is determined to go with what the committee has said, and that he is also looking at the welfare of Nigerians.
According to him, government is not against labour discussions, saying the government is not an opponent of wage increase.
He said government is always there to ensure that there is a balance between what government pronouncement is and what the realities on the ground were.
Idris added that government would work assiduously to ensure that whatever promises the government made were promises that would be kept.
He added that the President has given a matching order that all those who had negotiated on behalf of the federal government and all those who are representatives of organised private sectors, the sub nationals to come together to have a new wage award that is affordable, sustainable and that is also realistic for Nigerians.
Idris said the wage award is not just that of the federal government as the sub-nationals and the organised private sector were involved, saying that it was labour that stepped out during that procedure.
