REVEALED: How Tinubu's govt, NLC/TUC are negotiating new minimum wage wrongly

• Tope AbdurRazaq Balogun, the Lagos state governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA), has said the deadlock on the national minimum wage by the federal government and the labour union teams is expected
• In an interview with Legit.ng, Balogun said both parties are coming from a standpoint of unrealistic proposals
• The entrepreneur stated that the amount presented by the government’s representatives is “extremely meagre” while the organised labour’s request is astonishing

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering public journalism in Nigeria.

Epe, Lagos state - Tope Balogun, the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance in the 2023 election in Lagos state, has warned that there are some factors to be understood on why the parties involved in the minimum wage negotiation have to be careful.

Speaking in an interview with Legit.ng, Balogun stated that this is because whatever is agreed upon affects every employer of labour whether public or private.

A Lagos politician, Tope Balogun, has reacted to the actions taken to raise the minimum wage in Nigeria. Photo credits: @NLCHeadquarters, @officialABAT
Source: Twitter

Balogun explained:

“The basic standard of payment that will be agreed on will be deemed the minimum of what employers should pay their employees.“Failure to pay the agreed minimum wage means such an employer is considered to be underpaying or shortchanging their paid staff.”

He said in times past, some states have been hiding under the agreed minimum wage to pay what is far below a living wage for their employees considering the differences in states' living costs and economic conditions.

'Each state must determine its minimum wage'

Premised on the above, the gubernatorial hopeful asked the Bola Tinubu-led administration to allow states and other employers to determine their employees' living wages with varied pegs, based on realities surrounding the minimum human living standards.

Balogun said:

“I can say that the general minimum wage being operated fits the federal government workers more due to interstate transfer possibilities. “Meanwhile, every state can have reasonable and most practicable minimum wages for their own workers.“For example, how do you situate a Lagos state worker earning an equal salary with a worker in some other states when the cost of living in those states are miles apart? Hence a need for variation in minimum living wages for employees.”

More to read on minimum wage in Nigeria

• Minimum wage: List of governors paying more than N30k presently
• Nigerian governor explains why states, others are reluctant to pay N62,000 as minimum wage
• Tinubu’s govt told to pay N75,000 as new minimum wage, details emerge

Minimum wage: FG told to pay N150k

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, the lawmaker representing Nasarawa West zone, urged President Tinubu to approve at least N150,000 as the new minimum wage.

Wadada made the call in an interview with newsmen in Keffi local government area (LGA) of Nasarawa state late Tuesday, June 18.

Source: Legit.ng