The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has given a hint that President Bola Tinubu may likely take a final decision on the new minimum wage on Thursday this week.
He said the President will be meeting with the Organised Labour on Thursday before deciding on an amount that would be forwarded to the National Assembly.
According to Idris, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) deliberated on the national minimum wage and would invite the Organised Labour for a meeting this week.
He said the President is not averse to increasing the national minimum wage, but is being careful in order not to plunge the country into an unimaginable inflationary trend.
Meanwhile, the President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, has warned against recent decision of members of National Assembly to remove Wage from the Exclusive Exclusive to Concurrent list in the constitution.
Ajaero gave the warning on Monday while addressing participants at the opening ceremony of the 2024 annual Rain School of the NLC, holding in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital.
He also warned that if National Assembly members come up with such a Law, which would now allow each State governors to determine the minimum wage, he would mobilize labour stop movements for one month.
He said: “As we are here a Joint Committee of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Judiciary are meeting. They have decided to remove section 34 from the Exclusive legislative list to Concurrent list so that the State Governors can determine what to pay to you and so that there will be no minimum wage again.
“When they finish from that meeting they will collect minimum wage. I promise all of you that. The very moment the House of Representatives and the Senate come up with such a law that will not benefit Nigerian workers they will be their own drivers, and gate men; there’ll be no movement for one month.
“Comrades, I am putting you on standby. If that committee comes up with such policy, for one month nobody should come out. They are the major threat to democracy in this country. Democracy is not all about starving and punishing people. That’s not the democracy we fought for.
“They were not there when we fought for this democracy, and now they are trying to make laws to remove wage from the Exclusive list. So, comrades as I have talked to you here I have talked to everybody. We are waiting for them to come up with such hypocritical law. And from today, let them abolish security vote.”
The NLC President explained that time has come when the Federal lawmakers and governors should be subjected to collecting minimum wage and wondered why Nigerian leaders are bent on cheating workers, even in the midst of current hardship they are facing due to removal of fuel subsidy.
He regretted that in Nigeria the government does not respect agreements.