The impasse that has engulfed organised labour in Nigeria and the Federal Government over the minimum wage saga is currently giving all involved sleepless nights as labour has rejected a N62,000 offer by the government, while insisting on its N250,000 proposal, stating it would not negotiate what it described as ‘starvation wage.’

Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Chris Onyeka, while speaking on the minimum wage negotiation on a television programme, on Monday, said:

“Our position is very clear, we have never considered accepting ₦62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what Nigerian workers can take home. We will not negotiate a starvation wage.

“We have never contemplated ₦100,000 let alone of ₦62,000. We are still at ₦250,000; that is where we are, and that is what we considered enough concession to the government and the other social partners in this particular situation.

“We are not just driven by frivolities but also by the realities of the marketplace—the realities of things we buy every day: bags of rice, yam, garri, and all of that.”

On his part, President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, in an interview with journalists at the ongoing International Labour Conference taking place in Geneva, Switzerland,
said the unionists were waiting on President Bola Tinubu to consider labour’s offer before deciding on its next line of actions after the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage submitted its report to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for onward delivery to Tinubu.

Addressing journalists on the situation, Ajaero clarified that the submission of N62,000 as proposed by the government and the organised employers’ body did not translate to labour accepting N62,000 as the new minimum wage.

He further explained that labour could not embark on strike because the President had yet to communicate his decision on the figures presented by the tripartite committee.

“The Tripartite Committee submitted two figures to the President. The government and employers proposed N62,000 while labour proposed N250,000. We are waiting for the decision of the President. Our National Executive Council will deliberate on the new figure when it is out.

“We cannot declare strike now because the figures are with the President. We will wait for the President’s decision.

“During the tenure of the immediate past President (Muhammadu Buhari), the figure that was proposed to him was N27,000 by the tripartite committee but he increased it to N30,000.

“We are hopeful that this President will do the right thing. The President had noted that the difference between N62,000 and N250,000 is a wide gulf.

“The Federal Government and the National Assembly have the call now. It is not our call.

“Our demand is there for the government to look at and send an executive bill to the National Assembly and for the National Assembly to look at what we have demanded, the various facts of the law, and then come up with a national minimum act that meets our demands.

“If that does not meet our demand, we have given the federal government one-week notice to look at the issues and that one week expires tomorrow.

“If, after tomorrow, we have not seen any tangible response from the government, the organs of the organised labour will meet to decide what to do next,’’ he warned.

Also speaking on the stance of Nigerian governors saying they cannot even pay the N62,000, the NLC President said:

“How can any governor say he cannot pay? They cannot also be calling for the decentralization of the minimum wage.

“Are their wages decentralised? Governors whose states are not contributing a dime to the national purse and who generate pitiable Internally Generated Revenue are collecting the same amount as governors whose states are generating billions of dollars into the FAAC (Federation Account Allocation Committee). They should decentralise their salaries and emoluments first.

“So, where is the governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki, getting his money from? He is paying N70,000 minimum wage. This is the type of governor that should be emulated and not the lazy ones.”