Democracy Day: I’ll send agreed minimum wage to National Assembly soon

Although labour unions and the government are yet to agree on a new minimum wage, President Bola Tinubu says he will soon send a National Minimum Wage Bill to the National Assembly for passage.

Mr Tinubu stated this on Wednesday during a broadcast to commemorate Democracy Day.

The president said the proposed minimum wage may not last up to five years, hinting that it could be reviewed again within the next five years.

“We have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with organised labour on a new national minimum wage. We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less,” Mr Tinubu said.

Although the Tripartite Committee on the New National Minimum Wage submitted its report to the federal government on Monday, the figures agreed upon by organised labour and the federal government have yet to converge.

During the last meeting held by the Tripartite Committee on the New Minimum Wage on Friday in Abuja, labour reduced its demand to N250,000 from N494,000, while the federal government increased its offer from N60,000 to N62,000.

The proposed minimum wage may have to wait until 2 July because the National Assembly is currently on holiday.

We did not crack down on labour

In his speech, Mr Tinubu stated that despite the tough negotiation with labour leaders on the minimum wage, his government was democratic and never cracked down on the leaders.

“In the face of labour’s call for a national strike, we did not seek to oppress or crack down on the workers as a dictatorial government would have done. We chose the path of cooperation over conflict.

“No one was arrested or threatened. Instead, the labour leadership was invited to break bread and negotiate towards a good-faith resolution.

“Reasoned discussion and principled compromise are hallmarks of democracy. These themes shall continue to animate my policies and interactions with the constituent parts of our political economy,” he said.

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There were calls for sanctions against some of the labour leaders after the shutdown of the national electricity grid during the strike.

Both the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, and the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, condemned the shutting down of the national grid, describing it as treason.