…N27,000 is for all workers— Ngige

The Federal Government said yesterday that the N27,000 minimum wage approved by the National Council of State and contained in the bill sent to the National Assembly is for all categories of workers in the country, both those in the public and private sectors.

In a statement signed by the Assistant Director in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mrs Illiya Rhoda, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said the figure of N30,000 recommended by the tripartite committee was a mere recommendation.

The minister told all “those who are not pleased with the figure contained in the bill to prepare and take their submissions to the public hearing organised by the National Assembly for that purpose.

He said the recommendations of the tripartite committee were deliberated upon by all statutory organs of the constitutions which are recognised by law as advisory bodies to the President before the final figure was arrived at.

The statement reads in part: “The attention of the Minister of Labour and Employment has been drawn to the various misrepresentations being given to the press briefing on the new national minimum wage, given at the Aso Villa on January 22, 2019, after the meeting of the National Council of State.

“For avoidance of doubt, the minister wishes to clarify that national minimum wage is the minimum amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay wage earners (workers) at the lowest rung of the salary scale for the work performed during a given period.

“At the expiration of the last National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, which was enacted in 2011, Mr. President constituted and inaugurated a tripartite committee on national minimum wage (TCNMW) in November, 2017, to consider the issue and recommend a new national minimum wage to the government.

“The constitution of the tripartite committee was in consonance with the provisions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention Nos. 26, 99, and 131, as well as the guidance provided by the accompanying recommendations.

“In a bid to achieve a holistic and democratic coverage, the prescribed tripartite structure went beyond the requirements of tripartism (the government and social partners) to extend to Tripartite – Plus in order to cover other stakeholders which included Nigeria Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), and National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME); in addition to the recognised employers’ Federation – the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).

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“It is very important to note that the constituted TCNMW was mandated by Mr. President to deliberate on the issue of a review of the National Minimum Wage and make recommendations for its upward review.

“It is of utmost importance to note that any Public or Private Sector employer who is capable of paying more than the statutory Twenty Seven Thousand Naira (N27, 000.00) should be ready to do so even without subjecting the concerned workers to a tortuous negotiation by the applicable Negotiation Councils.

“The Federal Government has taken the lead in this direction by proposing to augment the Twenty Seven Thousand Naira (N27, 000.00) National Minimum Wage of Federal workers by Three Thousand Naira (N3, 000.00) per month to bring it up to Thirty Thousand Naira (30,000.00) for the least paid worker per month.

“It is important therefore, to use this medium to ask the different groups who have interest agreeing or disagreeing on the contents of the 2019 National Minimum Wage Bill already transmitted to NASS, to get ready to make their views known at the Public Hearing.

“We wish the Nigerian workers well and thank the NASS for expeditiously treating the Bill by letting it pass the first and second readings in one legislative day and also in setting up an urgent and ad hoc Committee to treat this matter in both Chambers very swiftly”.