N56,000 Minimum Wage Possible – Minister of Labour

N56,000 Minimum Wage Possible – Minister of Labour

The Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige has assured Nigerians that the Federal Government is considering the possibility of N56,000 minimum wage in response to the recent demand for the upward review by the organized labour.

The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC led by Ayuba Wabba and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, led by Bobboi Kaigama sent a demand to the Federal Government stating that the N19,000 minimum wage is stale and cannot solve the economic problems Nigerians are having now.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige has stated that the call by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, for an upward revaluation of the national minimum wage is to be expected, adding that the federal government is cautiously looking into it in order to come upward with a worthy reply.

Senator Chris Ngige said:

“The other day, the labour requested for increased wages for workers and they have only done what they are supposed to do. Therefore, nobody will quarrel with them. At the appropriate time, we shall all sit down because what labour is asking, is for the re-negotiation of an existing Collective Bargain Agreement, CBA. Every CBA based on an agreement is subject to re-negotiation at any given time that any of the partners requests for it.”

He debunked the idea that when such demands were made, it meant the government was at loggerheads with the organised labour and said:

“It is wrong for people to think that whenever the labour makes such a demand the nation is boiling. The labour in Nigeria has for the first time met a labour-friendly government under President Muhammad Buhari. The government has put machinery in motion as we speak because I have got a letter as the Minister of Labour and Employment for my advice. We shall advise government the way the tripartite negotiation will be handled so that everybody will be satisfied without any industrial unrest”.

He further stated that:

“We are in an era where due process supersedes every other. People can only perform their roles and give way for other people to also perform theirs.”

Nigerians are in great expectation as the economic situation of the country is seriously at loggerheads with the income of the average Nigerian. Prices of goods and services have escalated and everyone seems to be hoping on the Federal Government to salvage the situation.