The meeting called by President Bola Tinubu to discuss the long-awaited new minimum wage has ended without a resolution.
Labour leaders, who met with the President, told reporters that talks will continue next week. They said they need to consult with their members on the discussions with the President.
However, Nigeria Labour Congress President, Joe Ajaero, confirmed that the proposed minimum wage of N250,000 for labour and N62,000 for the Federal Government remains unchanged.
Festus Osifo, Trade Union Congress (TUC) President, however, told State House journalists that the meeting was a discussion, not a negotiation, and did not involve specific figures.
He said, “In the meeting, we tried to put the issues on the table. Issues that are bothering and biting Nigerians today, the economic difficulties and the value of naira, how it has also eroded, how these have affected the prices commodities and goods in the market.”
“So, we tried to put these before Mr President because he is the president of the country and the bulk stops at his table. We have had all the conversations with all his agents, but today, we said let us meet with the father of the country and have this conversation and make the argument that Labour always make, we made all the arguments, the economic analysis, macro, micro, fiscal and monetary issues.
“So, we put everything forward and at the end, the president made his remark as the president and we all agreed let’s go back, we internalize it, we have some conversation and by one we time, we will come back and we will continue the meeting.”
Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, described the meeting as a “father and children discussion” and expressed hope for a resolution soon.
The meeting afforded the labour leaders the opportunity to present their concerns about naira devaluation and economic difficulties faced by workers to the President.
