The meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday stepped down deliberation on the minimum wage memorandum brought before it.
This, according to the minister of information and national orientation, Mohammed Idris, is to enable the president to consult with the 36 state governors on the matter.
Briefing correspondents after the meeting of the council at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Idris explained that the president will consult with the organized private sector before arriving at the figure that will be submitted to the National Assembly in the form of an Executive Bill as the new national minimum wage.
He said the memorandum was stepped down by the council because the matter concerns federal, state governments and the organized private sector.
The minister said: “I want to inform Nigerians here that the Federal Executive Council deliberated on that (report of the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage) and the decision is that because the new national minimum wage is not just that of the federal government, it is an issue that involves the federal government, the state governments, local governments, and the organized private sector and of course, including the organized labour, that memo was stepped down to enable Mr President to consult further, especially with the state governors and the organized private sector, before he makes a presentation to the National Assembly, before an executive bill is presented to the National Assembly.
“So, I want to state that on the new national minimum wage, Mr President is going to consult further so that he can have an informed position because the new national minimum wage, as I said, is not just an issue of the federal government.
“It affects the state governments, it affects the local governments, and it also affects the organised private sector, and that is why it is called the national minimum wage. It’s not just an affair of the federal government.
“So, Mr. President has studied the report and he’s going to consult wider before a final submission is being made to the National Assembly.”
The minister assured that President Tinubu is not opposed to a minimum wage increase but is only keen to ensure that the country can pay a reasonable amount.
According to him, the existing wage award will continue until such a time as the new national minimum wage becomes operational.
He further explained: “We want Nigerians to know that the president and his government are not opponents of wage increases.
“But what the administration has always said is that we want an increase that is consistent with what Nigeria can take so that we don’t throw the country into some form of problem.
“The president said, ‘Let us consult the subnationals further. Let us also consult the organised private sector further,’ because the new national minimum wage is not just a federal government issue alone.
“It is a new national minimum wage, and as the name implies, you need to carry everyone along so that you arrive at something that the government will continue to pay.
“Now, we know that already the government has offered 62,000, I mean the tripartite committee. The president is looking at that.
“Before he sends it to the National Assembly, like I said, he needs to consult deeper so that he can come up with something that all Nigerians will be very happy with.
“As for the issue of timeline, I don’t want to speculate, but I know that it’s going to be very, very soon because the President takes this issue seriously.
“Now, you mentioned whether the labour will not continue to suffer as a result of this waiting.
Recall that there was a new or there was a wage award that was given by the government initially for only a period of six months.
“The federal government has insisted that the wage award will continue until such a time when the new national minimum wage becomes operational.”
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