Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, dismissed reports that the Federal Government was proposing a new minimum wage of N105,000.
The report came after President Bola Tinubu was briefed on the costs of adopting a new national minimum wage at the Presidential Villa last Thursday.
The template was submitted to the President by Wale Edun, Minister of Finance, and Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and National Planning.
When asked about the amount, Edun confirmed presenting the template to the President and stated that ‘there is no cause for fear’.
Tinubu is understood to be studying the plan, with an official statement likely soon. However, the development fueled the conjecture that the finance minister had recommended N105,000 in the new minimum wage template.
Onanuga refuted the claim in a post on his X account.
Onanuga wrote, “The Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, has not proposed the N105,000 minimum wage. The contrary story being disseminated is false.”
On the other hand, the meeting of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage was postponed until Friday (today) due to the lack of a cost template for the new minimum wage.
This was the second time in 24 hours that the committee meeting had been postponed.
The Federal Government and organised labour postponed the minimum wage talks until Thursday in anticipation of the blueprint.
On Tuesday, Tinubu instructed the finance minister to provide the costs of a new minimum wage within two days.
The President issued the order at a meeting with the government negotiation team, led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, at the presidential villa in Abuja.
