The President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Ayuba Wabba, says the new minimum wage will be announced earlier than the third quarter as stated by the Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige.
Ngige had said that a new national minimum wage will be announced before the end of the year.
The 30-member tripartite committee headed by former Head of Service of the Federation, Ms. Amal Pepple is billed to conclude its assignment by the third quarter and submit its report to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The organised labour said all wage-related issues would be resolved not later than the third quarter.
According to the NLC, “The delivery and the adoption of the new minimum wage is expected to take effect before the third quarter.”
Ayuba Wabba, said the union will reject in totality any attempt to delay the adoption of a new wage for workers, adding that the prevailing minimum wage of N18, 000 (about $46) per month is no longer feasible and sustain the Nigerian worker.
Wabba told reporters yesterday, “It is our expectation that all issues pertaining to the new minimum wage will be concluded before the end of third quarter of 2018 to give Nigerian workers a new hope that the government and other employers of labour have not totally abandoned them.
“This is something that workers have long anticipated and our expectation is that we want a speedy process now that the facts of the issues are very obvious.
“If you look at the exchange rate”, Wabba said, “the N18, 000 minimum wage of 2011 when we signed the agreement, it was almost equivalent to N110 dollars. Today, the N18, 000 is less than 46 dollars.
“So, this is the reality and with the purchasing power of the ordinary worker, with the high cost of transaction, our expectation is that the committee should look at the conditions of workers and pensioners.’’
