The Federal Government has increased its offer of a new national minimum wage to N62,000, while the organised labour has reduced its demand from N494,000 to N250,000.
The Daily Crucible gathered that the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage met on Friday and as was the case in the past adjourned its meeting without reaching a consensus.
It was learnt that the organized private sector also backed the government offer of N62,000.
However, in a statement by Barr. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment.shortly after the meeting, she said the recommendations of the committee would be submitted to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for consideration.
It reads, “The Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage finalised its assignment, taking into account the concerns and inputs of all stakeholders.
“Following a thorough examination of the proposals, considering both affordability and sustainability, the committee in line with Mr. President’s directive, came up with recommendations for a new minimum wage.
“These recommendations by both the government, the organised private sector and the organised labour will be transmitted to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for consideration.
“May God continue to guide and bless our great nation, Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, The Daily Crucible reports further that earlier, Nigerian governors under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors Forum(NGF) had rejected the initial proposed N60,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers even when the workers stood against that figure.
In a statement on Friday by the Director of Media and Public Affairs for NGF, Halimah Ahmed, the governors said the proposed minimum wage would not fly, describing it as too high and could turned out to be counterproductive to the nation and workers at the end.
The governors said the amount if implemented would leave them spending all of FAAC funds on salaries, throw many states into borrowing to continue payment of the salaries with less or nothing for infrastructure and development projects.
The statement read in part, “The Nigeria Governors’ Forum is in agreement that a new minimum wage is due. The Forum also sympathises with labour unions in their push for higher wages.
“However, the Forum urges all parties to consider the fact that the minimum wage negotiations also involve consequential adjustments across all cadres, including pensioners. The NGF cautions parties in this important discussion to look beyond just signing a document for the sake of it; any agreement to be signed should be sustainable and realistic.
“All things considered, the NGF holds that the N60,000 minimum wage proposal is not sustainable and can not fly. It will simply mean that many states will spend all their FAAC allocations on just paying salaries with nothing left for development purposes. In fact, a few states will end up borrowing to pay workers every month. We do not think this will be in the collective interest of the country, including workers.”
The NGF urged all parties involved in the negotiation process, particularly the labour unions, to take into account all socioeconomic factors and reach a sustainable agreement.
It stated, “We appeal that all parties involved, especially the labour unions, consider all the socioeconomic variables and settle for an agreement that is sustainable, durable, and fair to all other segments of the society who have a legitimate claim to public resources.”
The organised labour had vowed to reject any minimal increase to the N60,000 offer proposed by the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage.
