Minimum wage should remain on exclusive list ‑Labour tells Senate

Currently, the national minimum wage, which is on the Exclusive List, is determined by the Federal Government and has been pegged at N18, 000.In separate press statements, president of the NLC Abdulwahed Omar and his TUC counterpart said the removal will “unnecessarily expose Nigerian workers, especially, those in the low-income bracket with grave implications for […]

Currently, the national minimum wage, which is on the Exclusive List, is determined by the Federal Government and has been pegged at N18, 000.
In separate press statements, president of the NLC Abdulwahed Omar and his TUC counterpart said the removal will “unnecessarily expose Nigerian workers, especially, those in the low-income bracket with grave implications for security, productivity and national well-being, as most state governments if given the latitude, will pay wages as low as one thousand Naira per month in spite of the relative enormous resources available to them.”
“This fear is justified or underscored by the reluctance or refusal of some of them to implement the N18, 000 minimum wage law. Even for some of them that implemented the law, it took a heroic struggle.”
According to them, “the question we ask when issues of this nature arise is: do Nigerian workers and lawmakers buy from different markets? The answer is “no”. How do we send our children to school? How do we pay our rents? How do we pay our fares to work, market, church, mosque, etc or how do those who are privileged to have a car fuel it? It is wrong for politicians to attempt to toy with the destinies of Nigerian workers.
“Over the years, the claim by defaulting governments is that they cannot pay the N18, 000 minimum wage because they are not oil producing states, whereas a sitting senator from Kaduna state earns the same salary and allowances as a sitting senator from the Niger Delta. For us these arguments are baseless because what is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander.”