The Organised Labour has handed the Federal Government May 31 deadline to come up with a realistic and reasonable new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
Labour made this known during the Workers’ Day celebrations at the Eagle Square in Abuja on Wednesday.
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero; and his counterpart in the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo were unanimous that the N30,000 current minimum wage has been grossly insufficient for Nigerian workers in the light of current economic realities and inflationary pressure including food inflation, hike in energy and transportation cost, amongst others.
They insisted that a new living wage of ₦615,000 be expeditiously approved by the President Bola Tinubu administration before the end of May.
On his part, Osifo asked the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and power distribution companies to immediately reverse the current increase in electricity tariff for Band A customers.
Nigerians mark this year’s May Day amid spiralling, and unending snake-like queues at filling stations as scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol worsens across the Federation.
Although there have been assurances by the major oil supplier in the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to alleviate this issue, however, the queues have persisted for over one week.
Addressing Nigerian workers, Onyejeocha said although the Tripartite Committee On National Minimum Wage was yet to conclude its negotiations, workers will not lose anything as the new minimum wage will take effect from May 1, 2024.
She said it was regrettable that the new national minimum wage was not ready before the May Day celebrations but that a wide consultation is ongoing to ensure that the document is out together as soon as possible.
The President, represented at the event by his deputy, lauded the contributions of workers in Nigeria to the growth of the country.
He said the Federal Government can’t wait to receive the recommendations of the committee on the new national minimum wage.