Buhari unlikely to approve 30,000 naira minimum wage

Buhari Unlikely to Approve #30,000 Minimum Wage

The resolution of the dispute over the national minimum wage is far from being over following the decision of the House of Representatives to pass N30,000 as the new wage, SUNDAY PUNCH has gathered.

The lawmakers, on Wednesday, passed the N30,000, an amount higher by N3,000 than the N27,000 President Muhammadu Buhari presented to the National Assembly earlier in his bill.

However, the N30,000 tallied with the recommendation of the tripartite committee on the minimum wage, which submitted its report to Buhari in November, 2018.

But following a meeting of the National Council of State last month, the President eventually presented a minimum wage bill of N27,000 to the National Assembly.

Findings indicated that the President had again come under pressure not to sign the N30,000 should the Senate concur with the decision of the House of Representatives.

A reliable source stated, “The governors are the main problem. Recall that the majority of governors had all along opposed any increment above N18,000. They reluctantly agreed to pay N22,500 after a series of meetings at a time when the Federal Government too said it could offer N24,000.

“When there was much threat from labour, insisting that it must be N30,000, the National Council of State tried to find a middle ground by approving N27,000.”

Investigations showed that while the governors had yet to come to terms with the N27,000, the House of Representatives reportedly “compounded” the issue with the passage of the N30,000.

A senior official, in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH in Abuja, said, “The second-term governors are among the most rigid. If they put more pressure on the President not so sign and he succumbs, it means that there will be more crisis after the elections.

“Recall that labour has already started warming up, kicking against the N27,000. The Senate, as constituted today, is most likely going to concur with the position of the House by passing N30,000 as well.”

The Senate had proceeded on election recess to reconvene on February 19, three days after the presidential and National Assembly elections.

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