President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present a template for a new national minimum wage, according to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris.
Idris stated this after a Federal Government delegation met with the President to discuss the ongoing minimum wage negotiations with labor unions. The delegation included key government officials such as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, and the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu.
“The President has directed the Minister of Finance to do the numbers and get back to him between today and tomorrow so that we can have some figures ready for negotiations with Labour,” Idris said. He added that the President is determined to address the welfare of Nigerian workers.
The development comes after the Organised Labour suspended a nationwide strike that began on Monday, June 3rd. The strike was prompted by the government’s committee’s inability to agree on a new minimum wage and the reversal of the electricity tariff hike.
Earlier, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, had stated that the President was committed to a national minimum wage above ₦60,000. He also said the tripartite committee, comprising the government, employers, and labor unions, would meet daily for the next week to arrive at an agreeable minimum wage.
The current minimum wage of ₦30,000, which was signed into law in 2019, has been deemed inadequate by labor unions to cater to the well-being of the average Nigerian worker. The unions have been demanding a new minimum wage of ₦494,000.