The President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Festus Osifo, has indicated that the announcement of the new minimum wage, eagerly anticipated by many, is unlikely to be made on May 1st.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday, Osifo clarified that the Tripartite Committee’s negotiations are still underway. “The negotiation by the Tripartite Committee is still on going. If you remember, the TUC earlier submitted N447, 000 as the new minimum wage but we have harmonised our figure with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
“It is now N615,000. Regarding when the new minimum wage would be announced, the committee is still working.
“So, certainly, May 1, will not work for the pronouncement of the new minimum wage. Except if the Federal Government wants to pay the minimum wage of N500, 000 to workers,” he explained.
However, Osifo cautioned that this figure is not set in stone, as the government has its own considerations which will influence the final negotiations. “The government also has its markup and so conversations and negotiations will start and end somewhere, ‘he said.
He also noted that before organised labour arrived at that amount, a proper study was conducted.
“If you look at the N615. 000, you will think that the amount is right but at about the time we did that computation, a dollar was about N1, 700.
“I am hopeful that the committee will meet after May 1,” he added.
