Minimum wage: Labour kicks as FEC steps down memo, demands consultation

Failure to discuss memo giving room for speculation, NLC tells govt

The Organised Labour on Tuesday kicked against the Federal Executive Council’s decision to step down the memorandum on the report of the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage.

The Head of Public Relations of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Benson Upah, who criticised the failure of FEC to consider the memo during Tuesday’s FEC meeting, said stepping down the tripartite committee report “creates room for injurious speculations.”

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, told journalists after the council meeting that the FEC stepped down the memorandum on the new minimum wage to allow for more consultations between President Bola Tinubu, state governors, local government authorities and the private sector.\

Idris said the council deferred acting on the memo given that the Federal Government is not the sole stakeholder on the national minimum wage issue.

The Federal Government, Organised Private Sector and Labour had held several meetings on the new minimum wage with the NLC and Trade Union Congress leaders insisting on N250,000.

On the other hand, the Federal Government, states and the OPS  made a counter-offer of N62,000.