Members of the tripartite committee, comprising the federal government and labour unions, resumed discussions on a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers on Wednesday in Abuja.
Following the meeting, Festus Osifo, President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), informed newsmen that the federal government did not present a new minimum wage offer during the talks.
“Nothing has been presented yet. The minister of finance said they are still working on the template that the president mandated them to work on,” Osifo stated.
He added that the discussions mainly focused on the principles behind the wage issues, but no new proposals had been put forward beyond earlier discussions. Osifo expressed optimism that concrete proposals might emerge in future meetings.
The federal government was represented at the meeting by Wale Edun, Minister of Finance; Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and National Planning; and Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Minister of Labour. Representatives of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Head of Service of the Federation were also present.
On the labour side, Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and Osifo attended the meeting. Abdulateef Shittu, Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), was also in attendance.
The organised labour embarked on an indefinite strike on Monday over the federal government’s failure to meet their demand for a new minimum wage. The labour unions had proposed N615,500 and N494,000 as the new national minimum wage, which the government deemed unrealistic.
On Tuesday, the organised labour agreed to suspend the industrial action for one week to allow for negotiations with the federal government on the new minimum wage.
