The Nigeria Labour Congress on Sunday gave a strong indication that it would press for the inclusion of a clause which would prescribe sanctions for governors and local government administrators who failed to implement the new minimum wage.
The National Treasurer of the NLC, Hakeem Ambali, who disclosed this in an interview with newsmen, said the refusal of state governors to pay the current minimum wage was a result of a lack of punitive measures in the Minimum Wage Act of 2019.
“When we look at the purchasing power in Nigeria, we can see a huge difference between 2019 and now. With the stoppage of the payment of the fuel subsidy, we can see an increase in the hardship of Nigerians.
“In the new minimum wage bill which will soon be signed into law by the President, we have put in some internal clauses to make it difficult for governors not to pay the new minimum wage. It is also good to know that some of the governors are also involved in the negotiation process.
“Labour itself has to be responsive. Once the National Minimum Wage Bill is signed into law juxtaposed with Labour’s responsiveness, we know they will pay. As you can see, even private companies have started increasing the salaries of workers and some of them are even paying wage awards for their workers.
Ambali noted that an Executive Bill is expected to be sent to the National Assembly as a form of amendment to the current Minimum Wage Act and the 37-member Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage appointed by the Federal Government will hold a meeting this week to debate proposals by stakeholders on the new minimum wage.
“So in the bill, the clause involves sanctions and also talks about increased allocation to local governments so that nobody will have any excuse of not paying the approved rate.”
The minimum wage to be unveiled is expected to cushion the effects of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit.
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