Economic council silent on minimum wage as VP presides

• Let’s pay according to our ability, Southern governors insist
• Tinubu tasks governors on food security 
• Approves national construction, household support programme 

President Bola Tinubu, in an unexpected move, yesterday, attended the 142nd meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), presided over by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
   

Shettima, chairman of the council that comprises governors of the 36 states, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Minister of Finance, and other stakeholders, was expected to deliberate on the issue of the new national minimum wage.
   
The NEC meeting followed the recent Federal Executive Council (FEC) decision to defer the report of the Tripartite Committee on the New National Minimum Wage, emphasising the need for President Tinubu to engage further with other stakeholders, including governors, local government authorities and the private sector. The NEC is a statutory body responsible for advising the President on economic matters.
   
The President’s attendance came against the backdrop of his decision to consult with necessary stakeholders, including governors, all of whom are members of the council. He had said he would only submit a new national minimum wage to the national assembly for passage into law after such consultations.
   
However, at the end of the meeting, the council was silent on the minimum wage issue. Recall that the governors had earlier insisted that they could not pay the N60,000 proposed by the Federal Government after it increased the amount to N62,000 during negotiation with labour, while the organised labour rejected the offer and requested N250,000 as minimum wage.
   
Addressing State House correspondents after the meeting, Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, disclosed that the ad hoc committee on crude oil theft and the economy briefed the Council on the plans to halt crude oil theft.
   

On his part, Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State announced the constitution of the board of the Niger Delta Power Holding, which he said had operated for a long time without a supervising board. He revealed that it is made up of governors of Borno, Katsina, Imo, Ekiti, Kwara, and Akwa Ibom states representing the different geo-political zones.
   
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, spoke of the activation of the presidential food systems coordinating unit chaired by Vice President Shettima.
   
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, who gave detailed information bothering on agriculture and food security, disclosed that the Federal Government has distributed 42,000 metric tonnes of grains, 20 trailers of rice, as well as released 1,500,000 bags of fertilizer to states, which are now awaiting evacuation by the state governments.
   
Governors at the meeting included Usman Ododo (Kogi), Uba Sani (Kaduna), Lawal Dauda (Zamfara), Charles Soludo (Anambra), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Lucky Aiyedatiwa (Ondo), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti), Muhammed Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Umar Radda (Katsina), Abba Yusuf (Kano), Umar Namadi (Jigawa), and Umar Bago (Niger). Lagos, Rivers, Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states were represented by their deputy governors.

HOWEVER, governors from the Southern part of Nigeria under the aegis of the Southern Governors’ Forum (SGF) have called for the consideration of the cost of living and ability of each state to pay the new minimum wage just as they advocated that each state be allowed to negotiate the new wage with their labour unions. This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
   
In their 16-point communiqué, the forum called for the strengthening of fiscal federalism and devolution of powers and expressed concern over current practices where mineral licenses are issued and explorations undertaken without recourse to state governments.
   
It noted that issuing mineral licenses without carrying the states along has resulted in criminal activities, attendant negative environmental impact, ecological degradation, and no remediation commitment or revenue accruing to the states or the Federal Government.
   
The governors maintained that being the economic and industrial region of the country, there was a need to address the inadequate power supply in the region by taking advantage of the recent constitutional amendment that now allows states to regulate, generate, transmit and distribute electricity while also considering optional sources like renewable energy.
   
The Southern governors also resolved to aggressively embark on an energy transition plan from fossil fuels (petrol and diesel) to cleaner energy, specifically CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and ultimately EVs (Electric Vehicles) to help reduce the cost of transportation, which would lower the cost of food, goods and services of the citizens and residents.

PRESIDENT Tinubu on Thursday approved the immediate rollout of the National Construction and Household Support Programme to cover all geo-political zones in the country.
   
The President said the intention is to boost agricultural productivity, strengthen the economy by creating opportunities in the real sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, and construction, as well as provide urgent economic relief for Nigerians
   
Under the programme, President Tinubu explained that the Sokoto-Badagry Highway, which will traverse Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos, is prioritised.
   
Other road infrastructure projects, such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which is underway, and the Trans-Saharan Highway, which links Enugu, Abakaliki, Ogoja, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, and Abuja, are also prioritised.
   
The President has also approved full counterpart financing for Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Railway; to traverse Rivers, Abia, Enugu, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno, as well as for the Ibadan-Abuja segment of the Lagos-Kano Standard-Gauge Railway; which will traverse Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Niger, Abuja, Kaduna, and Kano.
   
The Sokoto-Badagry road project is specially prioritised for its importance as some of the states it will traverse are strategic to the agricultural sustainability of the nation.
   

Within the Sokoto-Badagry Highway corridor, there are 216 agricultural communities, 58 large and medium dams spread across six states, seven Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), 156 local government areas, 39 commercial cities and towns, and over one million hectares of arable land.
   
In addition, other items under the National Construction and Household Support Programme include: One-off allocation to states and the Federal Capital Territory of N10 billion for the procurement of buses and CNG uplift programme; delivery of N50,000 uplift grant each to 100,000 families per state for three months; provision for labour unions and civil society organizations; and deployment of N155 billion for the purchase and sale of assorted foodstuff to be distributed across the nation.
   
Speaking during the NEC meeting, President Tinubu urged governors to work together to meet the needs of citizens, stating that he is willing to provide the needed support to ensure that Nigerians are relieved of hardship.