Following the lingering discussions on a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers, organised labour has said that it is not fixated on any figure.
The tripartite committee on minimum wage ended its deliberations last week, submitting two figures to President Bola Tinubu for consideration as the new minimum wage.
While the government and the organised private sector are proposing ₦62,000, organised labour is demanding ₦250,000 as the new minimum wage.
However, the President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, who was a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief on Friday, said no figure is sacrosanct as there is always room for adjustments.
“What we said is that for us when we give figures, there is always a room to meander, there is always a room for us to do some adjustment here and there,” Osifo said.
“So, there is no figure that is sacrosanct, there is no figure that is cast in stone that both parties will be fixated on it. One of the reasons that we went on industrial action the last time was because when it got to N60,000, they told us that a kobo cannot even join the N60,000, that they cannot even add one naira to it.
“So that was one of the reasons that led to that industrial action beyond the fact that there were also delays.”
President Tinubu is expected to send an executive bill to the National Assembly for legislative action.
The TUC President said that they are not going to pre-empt the President, but they are making all efforts to justify why Tinubu should tilt towards the figure presented by the labour instead of the one by the organised private sector and the government.
He said that if the President send a figure that is not favourable to the labour to the National Assembly, they will still approach the lawmakers and push them to do much more.
Osifo vowed that the work of the labour leaders will not end until the Minimum Wage Act 2024 becomes law. He said it is premature to predict what labour will do if what is passed is not acceptable to them at the end of the day.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu has said that he will only approve a new minimum wage that the government can afford.
He stated this on Wednesday at a dinner to mark Nigeria’s 25 years of unbroken democracy in Abuja.
“I have to celebrate with you my dear brother, Senate President, Deputy Senate President,” he said, adding that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and his deputy, Jibrin Barau would soon get an Executive Bill from him on the new minimum wage.
“The minimum wage is going to be what Nigerians can afford, what you can afford and what I can afford. Cut your coat according to your size, if you have size at all,” he said.
Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, says he pities President Tinubu if he approves an “unsustainable” minimum wage for workers in the country.
The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) warned that not all state governments and the organised private sector can pay the ₦62,000 proposed by the Federal Government and the ₦250,000 demand of organised labour.
Soludo spoke on Wednesday at The Platform Nigeria, a programme by Lagos-based church, Covenant Nation, to mark 2024 Democracy Day.
“But on the other hand, you have to come back to reality, talking about these MSMEs, the schools, churches, so on and so forth. You will have to pay your own driver. We are all in it. Whatever they agree, we will muddle through but may be after one year, we will need to meet to discuss the consequences.”
“I pity the President because it will all be on his head if the consequences come down, whatever it is, if whatever is negotiated is unsustainable or payable or whatever. Months to come, who will bear the responsibility? Not me.”
The discussions for a new minimum wage has lingered for months, with the tripartite committee ending with the two figures last week.
While labour dropped its earlier demand from ₦494,000 to ₦250,000, the government added ₦2,000 to its initial ₦60,000 and offered workers ₦62,000.
Both sides submitted their reports to the President, who is expected to make a decision and send an executive bill to the National Assembly to pass a new minimum wage bill to be signed into law by the President.
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, says Nigerian politicians steal public funds every minute.
He spoke in Abuja at the 80th birthday celebration of former Attorney-General, Kanu Agabi.
Olukoyede said the anti-graft agency receives over 20,000 corruption petitions every year, adding that most of the cases are shocking.
“I receive over 20,000 petitions in a year in respect to public corruption, all terrible. What is going on? Like every minute, public officers take money, and if you go through some of our case files you will weep.
“The way people take national resources and Nigerians are victims of these fraudulent activities. And we must come together for once in our lifetime and say no to the activities of some of our leaders,” Olukoyede said.
The EFCC boss said some public officers resume office with less than N100,000 in their account, but after three years, EFCC will trace millions of dollars to them.
He said some of them build hundreds of houses while still in office, noting that corruption is killing Nigeria.
Olukoyede said public officers must explain what they did in office, stressing that accountability and transparency must guide public service.
The Ogun State Police Command says, it has arrested 43-year-old Edebiri Temitope, who allegedly beat his neighbour to death with a bamboo stick for hugging his son in Bluestone Treasure Estate, Mowe-Ofada area of Ogun State.
The deceased, 38 years old Micheal Oje, a Guidance and Counselling graduate of Benue State University, was accused of hugging and playing rough with the 3-year-old child .
According to Peter Adum, a younger cousin to the deceased, Micheal had just returned from work and the child who lived with them on the same street, ran towards him and hugged him.
He stated that Michael hugged the boy and threw him playfully in the air and caught him, before going into his room to sleep.
Adum said, “While he was sleeping, Adebiri, the father of the boy, came outside and knocked on his door. When Mike came out, the man accused him of playing roughly with his child. Mike explained that he had only hugged the boy and lifted him into the air.
“That was how the man then started slapping Mike. He picked up a bamboo stick from the ground and hit him about three times. Mike fell and died on the spot.”
The suspect was reported to have gone into hiding with his family.
However, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi on Friday, said the suspect had been arrested and transferred to the State CID, Eleweran, Abeokuta, for further investigation.
“Edebiri Temitope, ‘M’, aged 43 years, who was earlier reported to be at large, has been arrested in connection with the death of Oje Michael Eje, ‘M’.
“The suspect has been transferred to the State CID, Eleweran, Abeokuta, for further investigation,” Babaseyi stated.
Jimoh Ibrahim, Nigeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, has defended President Bola Tinubu’s absence at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Ibrahim spoke on a Television program, on Thursday, noting that Tinubu cannot attend the event just to deliver a 15-minute speech.
Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, had said Tinubu would not attend the 81st UNGA because he is currently on annual leave.
Idris said Tinubu had mandated Vice-President Kashim Shettima to lead Nigeria’s delegation to the high-level session in New York, United States.
The minister’s comment followed criticism from former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who faulted the president’s absence at the gathering.
Atiku had questioned Tinubu’s decision to stay away from the general debate for the third consecutive year, saying the president’s “persistent avoidance” of the United States raises questions.
The former vice-president also questioned why Tinubu did not show up after Ibrahim reportedly said arrangements had been made for the president to sit close to US President Donald Trump at the general assembly.
Atiku further linked Tinubu’s absence to his past legal history in the US and asked: “Is Tinubu afraid that he could become Donald Trump’s next Nicolás Maduro?”
However, Ibrahim said Tinubu’s absence should not be taken as a big deal because many presidents of other countries did not attend the gathering in person.
“What do you think President Tinubu is coming to do?” he queried.
“The presidents are allowed in the UN under UNGA for 15 minutes. Is that the reason why he should board the flight and be here for 15 minutes?”
He said Shettima had, in Tinubu’s absence, attended high-level meetings and met with Nigerians in the diaspora, describing the engagement as ideal.
“This is the kind of engagement we want, not that the president will just be inside the plane and be coming to UNGA for a 15-minute speech. What is the meaning of that? We don’t want that,” Ibrahim said.
Ibrahim, who was appointed chairman of the budget and administration committee for UNGA’s Fifth Committee in June, said 60 percent of those on the speaking list at the gathering were foreign affairs ministers and vice-presidents.
“As permanent representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, if I’m to do a memo to the president at the last minute of boarding the plane to go to UNGA, do you think I will recommend the president to be on his way when 60 percent of the speaking list of 193 countries are ministers and vice-presidents representing their countries?” he queried.
“There are exigencies. If the speaking list is 90 presidents, maybe of course, the president can come. I don’t think the president should come and be where his equivalent is a minister of foreign affairs of another country.”
The envoy also said the country occupied a prominent position at UNGA, arguing that Tinubu’s physical presence was not necessary.
“I promise that Nigeria will be on the front-row seat at UNGA. Are we not on the front-row seat? Nigeria is sitting at number eight seat in the UN under UNGA and America is at number 26th seat at the back of Nigeria’s seat,” he said.
“And you know, Donald Trump didn’t go to sit on his own seat. He came in to give a lecture at the UNGA and went back from there.
“Are you saying that Nigeria is making the impact it is supposed to make globally? Must we have President Tinubu here before we can make the impact?”
Speaking on what the composition of the speaking list implied, Ibrahim said reforms were being planned to increase the impact of the organisation on member-states.
“That is the reform we are taking on effective from October 1st. When I chair the budget and administrative committee, 90 percent of UN resources is spent at the headquarters, while 10 percent goes to member-states,” he said.
“So legitimacy is reduced because member-states are not seeing impacts of the United Nations. We are going to reverse that.”
President Tinubu Directs Cut in Dialysis Cost from ₦50,000 to ₦12,000
PICTURE: In Lagos Couple Sentenced to 22½ Years for Cannabis Trafficking
Dangote Refinery Reduces Petrol Gantry Price To ₦1,200 Per Litre
Dangote; We Did Not Fix ₦600/Litre Petrol Price
Heritage Bank Customers’ Path to Securing ₦5m Insured Funds: A Step-By-Step Guide by NDIC”
Indian Police Arrest Nigerian Over ₦290m Drug Haul
NELFUND Disburses ₦86bn To 449,000 Beneficiaries
After Plea Bargain, Court Discharges Stella Oduah of ₦2.5bn Fraud
