Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba has said a new minimum wage will soon be presented to the government.
Speaking at the delegate conference of the Non Academic Staff Union (NASU), Wabba said since the five- year period stipulated for the review of the minimum wage had lapsed, the NLC was working in collaboration with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to arrive at a figure to be presented to government.
He said the recent announcement by governors under the Nigeria Governors Forum that they could not continue to pay the N18,000 minimum wage was part of a ploy to frustrate the demand for an upward review.
He vowed that the congress would make the states ungovernable for any governor that tinker with the current minimum wage, pointing out that the leadership of the labour movement in the country was committed to a review.
While admitting the challenges in the economy, Comrade Wabba said “the fact that there is challenge in the economy does not mean that only the workers should suffer the consequence.
“We will ensure that any governor that they to reduce the N18,000 minimum wage will not have rest in his domain until the right thing is done. Reducing the minimum wage is something that cannot be defended. If political office holders still collect the same salaries nationwide, there is justification for anybody to be thinking of tinkering with the minimum wage.
“I want to assure us that the issue of review of the minimum wage, the leadership stands on that. We are only trying to consult with the TUC to ensure that they don’t divide our rank and come up with a figure that we will make public before we make our demand. I think it is defensive for them to say that they cannot continue to pay the minimum wage. I also think that they are saying so because they know that the review is due”
Comrade Wabba also called for a review of Privatisation policy of the government saying it has not yeilded the desired result especially in the power sector which he said has resulted into more darkness rather than leading to improved power supply.
The outgoing President of NASU, Comrade Ladi Iliya admitted that President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the nation’s economy was in crisis, with industries daily winding up, jobs being lost, while galloping inflation is being experienced .
According to her, “these are all indications of an economy in crisis. We call for the diversification of the economy to bring back on board agriculture, manufacturing and mining of the solid mineral”.
She said further that it was unfortunate that only public service workers are the real tax payers, saying “it is doubtful whether the rich in the society do pay tax and if they do, the question is, do they pay correct tax”.
She reminded Buhari that he was elected by Nigerians based on his anti corruption posture and appealed to the government to follow due process in the anti corruption war of the government so that the culprits will not escape Justice.
