Ebun Francis|
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has said that organised labour and the Federal Government don’t have an agreement on the new National Minimum Wage.
The minister said there was no truth in the claim that those concerned have agreed to increase the minimum wage to N30,000.
Ngige on Wednesday said that contrary to the reports in the media, the government was still consulting and negotiation was ongoing.
The minister made the disclosure while speaking with reporters at the end of Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, organised labour agreed on N30,000, the organised private sector came down to N25,000, the Federal Government proposed N24,000 while state governors proposed N20,000.
Ngige also noted that in accordance with Convention 131 of the International Labour Organisation, the most important thing to consider in fixing the new minimum wage is the ability to pay.
It will be recalled that Aliyu Wabba, the president of NLC in an interview with NAN late last week said that the federal government was set to announce the new minimum wage for workers.