Bola Tinubu has declared that Nigeria will only pay what it can afford as a new minimum wage for workers, on Wednesday.
Tinubu said this at the State House Conference Centre, at the 25th Democracy Day Anniversary Dinner. He urged the National Assembly to expect his memorandum.
Represented by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on the national minimum wage issue, Tinubu said the government would do what is expected but would also pay what it can afford.
He said: “Senate President, Deputy Senate President, you’ll get a notice from me if I’ve changed my mind on minimum wage. We’re going to do what Nigeria can afford, what you can afford, what I can afford. They ask you to cut your coat according to your size.”
But in a statement by the NLC, the trade union said it expected Tinubu to have harmonised the two proposals and announced a fitting minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
“We attentively listened to the Democracy Day Presidential address delivered by President Tinubu, especially concerning the ongoing National Minimum Wage negotiations. While the President may have accurately recounted parts of our democratic journey’s history, it is evident that he has been misinformed regarding the outcome of the wage negotiation process.
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“The NLC would have expected that the advisers of the President would have told him that we neither reached any agreement with the federal government and the employers on the base figure for a National Minimum Wage nor on its other components.
“Our demand still remains N250,000 only and we have not been given any compelling reasons to change this position which we consider a great concession by Nigerian workers during the tripartite negotiation process.
“We are therefore surprised at the submission of Mr. President over a supposed agreement,” it stated.
