N30,000 national minimum wage no longer tenable – Akpabio

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said the N30,000 national minimum wage is no longer tenable.

Mr Akpabio disclosed this on Monday at a one-day retreat organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies(NILDS) in Abuja for the members of the Senate and House Committees on Labour, Employment and Productivity themed, ‘Labour Reforms and the Quest for a Living Wage in Nigeria: Focus in Legislative Intervention.’

The Senate President, represented at the occasion by the Chairperson, Senate Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity, Diket Plang, said the current national minimum wage was no longer tenable given the current economic realities of the country partly occasioned by the ongoing reforms of the Bola Tinubu administration, which include the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the Naira.

Mr Akpabio said the 10th National Assembly, under his leadership, was on the same page with Nigerian workers in their quest for a new minimum wage and living wage.

To underscore the 10th National Assembly’s solidarity with Nigerian workers on their rightful demand for a living wage, Mr Akpabio said the Senate has carried out several interventions, which he listed as facilitating a meeting of critical stakeholders, including the leadership of various labour organisations, organised private sector and relevant government MDAs.

According to Mr Akpabio, the interventions “happened at a time when all hopes for timely resolution seemed lost, ultimately leading to a truce and suspension of the industrial actions initiated by labour.”

The senate president pledged to “facilitate the speedy consideration and passage of the new Minimum Wage Bill whenever the proposal is presented to the NASS by the president.

“Let me assure you that we stand by this commitment. We cannot afford to fail the nation at this critical time.”

Nigerian workers under the leadership of organised Labour have been pressing for a new national minimum wage, leading them to embark on a couple of industrial actions in recent times to press home their demands.

Tripartite Committee

The quest for a new national minimum wage led the federal government to empanel the National Tripartite Committee on New Minimum Wage comprising government, labour unions and the organised private sector in line with the Minimum Wage Act, 2019.

The committee, led by a former head of service of the federation, Bukar Aji, met with all the relevant stakeholders several times to work out a new minimum wage.

The committee has since submitted its recommendations to the Federal Government, which will form the basis of an executive bill on a new national minimum wage to be forwarded to the National Assembly for legislative consideration.

The issue of a new minimum wage is on the exclusive legislative list, which is the preserve of the National Assembly.

Retreat timely, essential – NILDS DG

Meanwhile, in his opening remarks at the retreat, NILDS DG, Abubakar Suleiman, said the retreat was timely considering the ongoing debates around the new minimum wage and the need to provide lawmakers with the necessary policy wherewithal to guide them in making critical interventions when the new minimum wage bill is eventually brought before them.

Since any agreement reached by the tripartite committee must be submitted to the legislature for enactment, Mr Suleiman, a professor, said it is “imperative for the legislature to understand the processes of the minimum wage and its implications for worker welfare, economic growth, and the national development of the nation.

“The legislature must also have a holistic view of the environment under which labour administration is carried out in the country.”

He noted that the retreat was most relevant as part of the NILDS’ contribution to the ongoing quest for a sustainable living wage capable of “supporting the renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration in Nigeria.”

In addition, the DG said the retreat was also relevant because the issue of the national minimum wage is on the exclusive list that can only be legislated upon by the National Assembly.

“The platform offered by this seminar will, therefore, equip members of the Committees and other stakeholders present to share experiences that will culminate into a robust legislative intervention in the labour reform process,” he said.

Apart from members of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Labour, Productivity and Employment, some other dignitaries who attended the retreat included the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Speaker of the House of Representatives, represented at the occasion by Adegboyega Adefarati; members of the organised Labour and representative of the International Labour Organisation(ILO), among others.