President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday, directed Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, to within two days come up with the cost implications of an affordable, sustainable and realistic new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
The directive came as organised labour resolved to suspend its nationwide strike for the next one week.
Both Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), yesterday, directed their state branches to ask members to resume work immediately.
Equally yesterday, Senate pledged that the National Minimum Wage Bill would be given accelerated hearing any time Tinubu forwards it to the National Assembly for legislative action.
But the House of Representatives cautioned the federal government against increasing the minimum wage beyond what the economy could sustain.
Spokesman of the House, Akin Rotimi, in a statement issued Tuesday, said the call became imperative to avoid unintended outcomes, such as inflation, layoffs, and other adverse economic consequences. Nonetheless, civil society group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), yesterday, called on Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, to cut the bogus National Assembly budget of N344.85 billion as sacrifice to enable the federal government meet the demands of organised labour.
