THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it has not reached any agreement with the Federal Government (FG) on the new national minimum wage.
The NLC criticised President Bola Tinubu’s declaration that an agreement had been reached, insisting that its demand for a new national minimum wage remained N250,000.
While addressing Nigerians on Wednesday, June 12, in a nationwide broadcast to mark Democracy Day, Tinubu said he would soon send a bill to the National Assembly on the new minimum wage.
He added that the federal government’s negotiation with organised labour was done in good faith and with open arms.
Responding to the President’s claim in a statement on Wednesday, the acting president of NLC, Adewale Adeyanju, declared that the tripartite committee set up by the government on the minimum wage reached no agreement at the time negotiations ended on Friday, June 7.
According to Adeyanju, workers’ demand remains N250,000 only, and labour has not been given any compelling reasons to change this position which it considers a great concession by Nigerian workers during the tripartite negotiation process.
The NLC stated that it was necessary to raise the issue for the President and Nigerians as it seemed that those who informed him of the conclusion of the tripartite negotiations had not adequately briefed him.
The statement partly reads, “We reiterate that Nigerian workers will find it extremely difficult to accept any national minimum wage figure that approaches the poverty line.” We cannot continue to live in such poverty while working.
“While the President may have accurately recounted parts of our democratic journey’s history, it is evident that he has been misinformed regarding the outcome of the wage negotiation process.
“The NLC would have expected that the advisers of the President would have told him that we neither reached any agreement with the federal government and the employers on the base figure for a national minimum wage nor on its other components.“
The NLC said it was surprised by Tinubu’s submission over a purported agreement.
“There was none, and we must let the President, Nigerians and other national stakeholders understand this immediately to avoid a mix-up in the ongoing conversation around the national minimum wage. We have also not seen a copy of the document submitted to him and will not accept any doctored document,” the statement added.
The ICIR reported on Wednesday that Tinubu assured Nigerians that he would submit a new minimum wage bill to the National Assembly soon.
He gave the assurance during his address commemorating the June 12 Democracy Day celebrations on Wednesday morning.
In his speech, Tinubu acknowledged the hardships faced by most Nigerians, stating that the bill would make the agreed terms part of the nation’s law for the next five years or less.
The President’s promise came amid growing demands from workers and Nigerians for an increased minimum wage to address inflation and the rising cost of living.
Although the government’s proposal of N62,000 represents about a 100 per cent increase from the current minimum wage of N30,000, organised labour has demanded a much higher figure, pegging its earlier N615,000 demand to N250,000.
The workers embarked on a strike on Monday, June 3, and relaxed the action the following day, after the parties agreed on some terms.
A reporter with the ICIR
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