Sodiq Adelakun
The Presidency has stated that the ₦250,000 minimum wage clamour by Organised Labour is unsustainable and such a demand cannot be met.
The Federal Government warned that they cannot channel all their resources to meet such a demand.
Speaking during an interview with Punch, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, insisted that it was selfish for Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress to demand that resources meant for Nigerians should be channeled to only the benefit of their members who are not more than 10 per cent of the entire population.
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The presidential media aide also said the Federal Government might not meet the Labour leaders again unless something cogent turned up.
He 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.”
Tinubu had disclosed during his Democracy Day that an executive bill on the new national minimum wage for workers would be sent to the National Assembly.
When quizzed on when he plans to transmit the bill, Onanuga said though he could not give a particular date, he sees it happening after the Sallah break.
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“I am not certain when he plans to do it (Bill). May be after Sallah. But I am not sure whether the FG is meeting with them or whether its position on the minimum wage has changed. Don’t forget the current amount on the table was arrived at by the committee that also has the private sector where the NECA and NACIMMA were also represented.
“That was the figure the FG delegation, sub-nationals, employers, NECA and other sectors agreed on. So, the FG cannot just decide on any other amount of money on its own without carrying these people along. And the government cannot just decide anything without ensuring that the state and local governments are able to pay,” he said.
