Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, has submitted the projected cost implications of implementing a new national minimum wage to President Bola Tinubu.
News About Nigeria reported that during a meeting with the government negotiation team on the new minimum wage, led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, Tinubu ordered Edun to come up with the cost implications of an affordable, sustainable, and realistic new minimum wage and present the figures within two days.
The team included the Ministers of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Labour, and Information, as well as the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited.
Edun, accompanied by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, presented the financial details during a meeting at the presidential villa in Abuja.
After the meeting, Edun confirmed the submission and reassured the public, stating, “There is no cause for alarm.”
The urgency stems from organised labour unions, including the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, which initiated a nationwide strike on Monday.
The strike demanded an increased minimum wage for workers and the reversal of the recently raised electricity tariffs.
However, the labour union leadership suspended the strike on Tuesday for five days after signing a commitment with the Federal Government to resume negotiations and finalise a new minimum wage within a week.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party has urged the Federal Government to seriously consider the minimum wage request of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the party, Mrs. Olubunmi Odesanya, made this plea while speaking in an interview on Wednesday in Lagos.
She noted that the federal government must not pay the demand of N494,000 by Congress, but they should seriously look into it and see what can be done.
She appealed to both the federal government and the Labour Congress to meet at a midpoint and do what is best for Nigerian workers, adding that workers deserve more than they are getting currently because of the country’s inflation rate, which is over 33.3 percent.
