NLC knocks FG’s minimum wage technical wage committee

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, President, Ayuba Wabba, on Wednesday, in a chat with newsmen in Lagos, said no Technical Committee will look into the already agreed figure of N30,000.

He was reacting to President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that a “high powered technical committee” would be set up to look into the ability of state governments to pay the already agreed minimum wage to avoid job loss.

Buhari disclosed this Wednesday, at the presentation of N8.83 trillion 2019 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly in Abuja.

President Buhari said, “To avoid a system crisis on the Federal Government and states, it is important to device ways to ensure that its implementation does not lead to an increase in the level of borrowing. I am, accordingly, setting up a high powered technical committee to advice on ways of funding an increase in the minimum wage and attendant wage adjustments without having to resort to additional borrowing.

“The work of the committee will be the basis of finance bill which will be submitted to the National Assembly alongside the minimum wage bill”.

According to the President, the committee would recommend modalities for the implementation of the new minimum wage.

Wabba however argued, “We cannot use any technical committee to look into the agreed minimum wage. The President promised to pass the report to lawmakers a week after it was presented to him.

“Once the tripartite committee has met and agreed on an amount, no other committee can meet on the same issue,’’ Wabba and added that it was the tripartite committee’s decision for workers to be paid N30, 000 as minimum wage and there was no going back by labour on the amount, and also noted that Organised Labour would meet, next week, to take a decision of the next line of action.

Joe Ajaero, President of the United Labour Congress, ULC, said a tripartite committee had considered the ability of governments to pay the sum before the committee agreed on it and that Labour had resolved to fight for the new minimum wage even after the upcoming general election, saying that there would be no retreat or surrender until workers received the wage.

Buhari set up a tripartite committee on November 5, 2017 and the committee later agreed on N30, 000 as new minimum wage after prolonged consultations. He received the panel’s report this December.