The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria president, Festus Osifo, says the N615,000 new minimum wage agreed on by the TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress was based on N1,700 per dollar computation. The TUC leader said the much-awaited new wage announcement on May 1 might hold.

Mr Osifo said this while speaking with journalists on Friday in Abuja.

The TUC president said, “The negotiation by the Tripartite Committee is still ongoing. If you remember, the TUC earlier submitted N447,000 as the new minimum wage but we have harmonised our figure with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

“It is now N615,000. Regarding when the new minimum wage, the committee is still working. So, certainly, May 1 will not work for the pronouncement of the new minimum wage except if the federal government wants to pay the minimum wage of N500,000 to workers.”

He, however, said the N615,000 demanded by the organised labour was not sacrosanct.

“The government also has its markup, so conversations and negotiations will start and end somewhere,” the TUC leader said.

Mr Osifo also noted that a proper study was conducted before organised labour arrived at that amount.

“If you look at the N615,000, you will think that the amount is right, but at about the time we did that computation, a dollar was about N1,700. I am hopeful that the committee will meet after May 1,” he said.

The federal government set up a 37-member tripartite committee on minimum wage to continue further negotiations and consultations on the new minimum wage.

The National Minimum Wage Committee is chaired by Bukar Aji, the former head of the federation’s civil service. Other members were drawn from the federal and state governments, the private sector, and organised labour.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima said the setting up of the minimum wage review committee is a reaffirmation of President Bola Tinubu’s desire to motivate the nation’s workforce, which he describes as the administration’s cornerstone.

Mr Shettima notes that though decisions made to salvage the economy remain inevitable, the Federal government is not oblivious to the short-term implications, assuring Nigerians of better days ahead.

He urged the committee to be diligent and consult widely to arrive at a fair and decent wage that could alleviate the people’s sufferings. 

(NAN)