Minimum Wage: FG Laments Paucity Of Funds, Proposes N57,000

The meeting of the Federal Government, the organised private sector and the organised labour over the new minimum wage on Wednesday in Abuja, ended in a deadlock again.

This was as the tripartite committee on new minimum wage adjourned till next Tuesday, May 28 to continue deliberation.

According to sources at the meeting, the Federal Government initially stood its ground on the N54,000 it proposed on Tuesday, citing paucity of funds.

READ: FG Raises Proposed Minimum Wage To N54,000

However, the government was forced to propose the sum of N57,000 after the committee took a 30-minute break to make further deliberations.

The sources disclosed that both the government and the OPS proposed the sum of N57,000 as minimum wage at the end of the break.

The sum was, however, rejected by labour.

“The final proposal from labour was N497,000 and that was after the government and the private sector proposed N57,000.

“Initially, the government refused to shift grounds on the N54,000 it proposed earlier, noting that it didn’t have enough funds to pay. However, we took a 30-minute break to make further deliberations.

“We as Labour reject the proposed N57,000 and the meeting has been adjourned till Tuesday next week.

“Governors Obaseki and Uzodinma were present while Governor Soludo joined us via Zoom. The government needs to be serious as regards these negotiations.”

Also, a senior official of Nigeria Labour Congress who spoke to a journalist, said, “The outcome of the negotiation of the National Minimum Wage Committee with the Federal Government is not encouraging. The Federal Government increased it from N54,000 to N57,000, and the organised labour moved from N615,000 to N500,000, and then to N497,000 and the meeting has been adjourned to next week Tuesday.”