The federal government has urged organised labour to take into account the wider economic consequences of their demands for an unjustifiably higher national minimum wage.
The admonition was delivered by Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation.
Idris warned that the N250,000 minimum salary proposed by labour may damage the economy, cause a mass layoff of workers, and endanger the wellbeing of Nigerians.
The labour unions, on the other hand, denied President Bola Tinubu’s assertions that a deal had been reached on the new national minimum wage during his Democracy Day speech on Wednesday.
The Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage had not established a consensus as of the end of negotiations on June 7, according to Prince Adewale Adeyanju, acting president of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
Adeyanju is acting in place of NLC President Joe Ajaero, who is in Geneva, Switzerland, for a conference of the International Labour Organisation.
After declaring that his administration would soon present an executive bill to the National Assembly to formalise the agreements struck in the minimum wage negotiations between labour, the corporate sector, the states, and the federal government, Tinubu infuriated the unions.
The Federal Government and the Organised Private Sector offered N62,000, but the unions insisted on a minimum wage of N250,000 throughout the weeks-long negotiations.
The state governors, however, declared that they would not be able to pay minimum wages above N60,000.
According to Chris Onyeka, the NLC’s assistant general secretary, Labour would not accept the most recent offer of N62,000 or the N100,000 suggestion put up by certain people and experts.
Joe Ajaero, the President of the NLC, stated that the unions were waiting on the President to take Labour’s suggestion into consideration.
Speaking on Wednesday at the commencement of the 2024 Synod of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria in Abuja, the minister of information highlighted the need for a reasonable wage structure that covers workers’ needs and prevents widespread layoffs.
Idris reaffirmed the government’s commitment to reviewing the minimum wage but issued a warning against making demands that would cause the economy to falter.
He stated, “As I have repeatedly said, the Federal Government is not opposed to the increase of wages for Nigerian workers, but we keep on advocating for a realistic and sustainable wage system for the workers—a wage system that will not undermine the economy, lead to mass retrenchment of workers, or jeopardise the welfare of about 200 million Nigerians.
“We want the labour unions to understand that the relief that Nigerians are expecting and that they fully deserve will not come only in the form of an increase in wages.”
