THE Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige has advised the incoming administration to start discussions on the review of the minimum wage presently obtainable in Nigeria.
Speaking on Channels TV on Wednesday, March 29, Ngige said that discussion for the increment of the minimum wage should commence after the inauguration of the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu.
The minister said that there was a need for the next administration to come up with a minimum wage higher than the present N30,000 by May 2024.
He noted that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration was able to achieve an increase in the wages of civil servants.
Ngige noted that the proposed increment is to enable government workers to mitigate the economic effects of inflation and high cost of living.
“It is a tripartite negotiation involving public sector, private sector and state governments,” he said.
Ngige who was part of the committee that negotiated on the current minimum wage in 2018, noted that the minimum wage in West African countries should be reviewed every five years to reflect the standard of living.
“We entrenched in that bill or law that minimum wage will now have an automaticity of review every five years.
“So, from 2019 when it came into effect to 2024 will be five years but we also made a recommendation in our document which we submitted that the discussion and negotiation should start one year from May 2024 when it is supposed to kick-start.
“So, I’m envisaging that as from May 2023, the government will empanel the new minimum wage review committee for the nation.”
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Ngige however, bemoaned the failure of many states to implement the current minimum wage of N30,000.
The ICIR earlier reported that the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had listed conditions for the proposed review of the national minimum wage.
The NLC noted that the proposed review must meet with the present economic reality in the country.
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