The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Tinubu at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Minister said that a memo on the report of the new minimum wage was presented to the council, but it was stepped down because it is a national matter that has to do with the governors and the organized private sector.
The Minister said that it is after a wider consultation with the relevant stakeholders that the President, with informed knowledge, will then forward a figure that will be the national minimum wage.
It will be recalled that at the end of the Tripartite Committee meeting on new national minimum wage, the government team and the organized private sector offered N62,000 from the current N30,000, but the organized labour, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, demanded a N250,000 living wage.
The decision of the President to consult the relevant stakeholders comes on the heels of a statement by the President of the NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero, where he said that the organized labour had expected the President to reach out to the members of the Tripartite Committee to harmonise the figure.
Comrade Ajaero had hinged his position on the fact that there was a stalemate at the end of the Tripartite Committee meeting.
But briefing State House correspondents, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said, “I want to inform Nigerians here that the Federal Executive Council deliberated on that (report of the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage), and the decision is that because the new national minimum wage is not just that of the federal government, it is an issue that involves the federal government, the state governments, local governments, and the organized private sector, and of course, including the organized labour.
“That memo was stepped down to enable Mr. President to consult further, especially with the state governors and the organized private sector, before he makes a presentation to the National Assembly, before an executive bill is presented to the National Assembly.
“So I want to state that on the new national minimum wage, Mr. President is going to consult further so that he can have an informed position because the new national minimum wage, like I said, is not just an issue of the federal government.
“It affects the state governments, it affects the local governments, it also affects the organized private sector, and that is why it is called national minimum wage. It’s not just an affair of the federal government.
“So, Mr. President has studied the report, and he’s going to consult wider before a final submission is being made to the National Assembly.”