“Not Going Beyond N62k”: Don Speaks as New Minimum Wage Awaits Legislative Action

• Professor Akeem Akinwale has explained the political side of the new minimum wage deadlock
• Legit.ng reports that there have been several failed negotiations between the government and the organised labour to raise the federal minimum wage
• Reacting to the disagreement, Prof. Akinwale noted that the FG wants to go ahead to legislate on the new minimum wage

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering public journalism in Nigeria.

Yaba, Lagos state - Akeem Akinwale, a professor of Employment Relations and Labour Studies at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), has said the ongoing controversy on the minimum wage between the federal government and the organised labour is simply a political affair.

Akinwale said what the organised labour should be clamouring for was price control and reduction in the high inflation slashing the people’s purchasing power, as well as a drastic cut in the humongous salaries of public office holders in Nigeria.

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He told The Punch in an interview published on Saturday, June 15.

“What is happening is purely political. The tripartite committee comprises government representatives, employers’ representatives, and the organised labour.

"The reason President Bola Tinubu made the statement (that an agreement has reached on a new national minimum wages) is because the government representatives and employers’ representatives had agreed that they were not going beyond N62,000.

"Labour has not agreed with that proposal, but out of the three groups, two have agreed.

"So, I think it is on the strength of this that the federal government wants to go ahead to legislate on the new minimum wage.”

Legit.ng recalls that in his national broadcast to mark the 2024 Democracy Day in Abuja on Wednesday, June 12, President Bola Tinubu revealed that an executive bill will soon be sent to the national assembly to formalise the new minimum wage agreement. However, the proposed minimum wage may have to wait until July 2 because the national assembly is currently on holiday.

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'Each state must determine its minimum wage' - Lagos AA candidate

Tope Abdulrasaq Balogun, the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) in Lagos state during the 2023 election, has said the deadlock on the national minimum wage is expected because both parties are coming from the standpoint of "unrealistic proposals".

Balogun advised parties involved in the negotiation to be careful.

According to the gubernatorial hopeful, whatever is agreed upon affects every employer of labour, whether public or private.

He told Legit.ng:

"Failure to pay the agreed minimum wage means such an employer is considered to be underpaying or shortchanging their paid staff.

"In the time past, some states have been hiding under the agreed minimum wage to pay what is far below a living wage for their employees considering the differences in states' living costs and economic conditions.

"Premised on the above, the federal government should allow states and other employers to determine their employees' living wages with varied pegs based on realities surrounding the minimum human living standards."

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More to read on minimum wage

• New minimum wage: NLC/TUC releases statement as governors say they cannot pay N60,000
• Labour may resume strike as top official speaks on imminent meeting over minimum wage
• NLC speaks on “most important thing” as Tinubu decides on new minimum wage

Minimum wage: Tinubu’s govt told to pay N75k

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Reno Omokri, a socio-political analyst, said Nigeria is not rich and cannot afford to pay any amount as a minimum wage requested by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).

In a tweet on his verified handle, Omokri asserted that the Tinubu government should pay N75,000 as a minimum wage and allow the states to pay what they can afford, rather than enforcing a minimum wage that they cannot afford on them.

Source: Legit.ng