A spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rubbished the signing of the new minimum wage bill into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Prince Diran
Odeyemi, described the new law as “mere propaganda, deceit and scamming” of the
Nigerian civil servants.
He said in a statement that the Nigerian workforce deserved more than the
N30,000 minimum wage.
Odeyemi argued that based on the high exchange rate of the dollar, compared to what obtained under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, workers deserve better than N30,000.
He said: “I was amused at the wide jubilation and undeserved publicity being accorded the so-called minimum wage” which he described as “ridiculously low, compared to the N18,000 ($122) minimum wage approved during the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan under the PDP administration.
“The exchange rate of US$ dollars to the Naira in 2010 was N147 to $1 which then translated N18,000 to be $122.
“If the APC wants to be honest with themselves and the sufferings of the Nigerian civil servants, what was expected of the ruling party was to just multiply $122 by the current exchange rate of N360 to $1 which would have given the civil servants a minimum salary of $122 x N360 which is N43,920 that they truly deserved.
“The Federal government has deliberately cheated the Nigerian civil servants with not less that $19 or N13,920.
“These are the reasons why PDP went the whole hug traversing the length and breadth of this country during the presidential campaign with assurances that the Naira was too weak with the lowest purchasing power ever in the history of our dear nation since the inception of APC administration on May 29, 2015.”