Minimum Wage: Tinubu’s FG Discloses Actual Amount It Is Willing To Pay Nigerian Workers, Knocks NLC

On Sunday, June 16, the presidency insisted that the N250,000 minimum wage clamour by organised labour was unsustainable.

The federal government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu disclosed this and warned that it could not channel all its resources to meet such a demand.

The warning comes two days after the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) raised concerns over the N62,000 being proposed by the FG. The ALGON said the wage may strain the councils’ financial burden if approved.

Labour insists on minimum wage demand

Interestingly, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) led by Joe Ajaero also urged the federal government to accept its demands on minimum wage, given the country’s current realities.

Ajaero tackled the president’s statement on Democracy Day and reminded him of his promise to pay a living wage.

Bayo Onanuga knocks labour

Speaking on behalf of the presidency, the special adviser to President Tinubu on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, once again asked the NLC and TUC to be realistic.

He urged the labour unions to consider that the resources meant for the entire Nigerians could not be channeled to only the benefit of their members who are not more than 10 percent of the entire population.

In an interview with The Punch, Onanuga said:

“That is why we keep telling labour to be realistic because the government cannot use all its resources to pay workers. They have other things to do. The workers we are even talking about are not up to 10 per cent of the population. Many people are self-employed or engaged in the private sector, who are not members of Labour, and are not affected by this demand.

“This is even more reason why labour has to reconsider their decision critically instead of always striving to shut down the system. What the FG did was in consultation with the private sector and others. Only Labour, which appears to be in the minority, kept saying they won’t accept N62,000. They are not even employers but employees.

“Let us wait and hear what they are going to say after their return from the ILO conference. But they have to be realistic.”