Fresh from being removed as the Chief Whip of the senate for criticising the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu, Senator Ali Ndume has voiced his opinion on the N70,000 minimum wage agreed upon between the labour unions and the Federal Government.
Senator Ndume said Saturday that the minimum wage cannot address the declining purchasing power of the Nigerian workers adding that it has to be increased because it can only buy a 50kg bag of rice.
“People are suffering, people are angry, people are not happy. I am happy that yesterday, the president agreed with NLC to increase the salary to N70,000, which is a good move.
“But it takes more than that because, realistically, that is like a bag of rice, money that will buy a bag of rice or cover the cost of a bag of rice.
“So, I call on the president to still open up and listen to the people,” Mr Ndume said.
Meanwhile the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has explained why it backed down from the ₦250,000 minimum wage it demanded from the FG.
Mr Ajaero stated that “accepting N70,000 was the best way to save Nigerians from further hardship” because settling for the N250,000 offer would worsen the biting economic hardship Nigerians are already facing.
He said, “At last week’s meeting, the President brought a proposal that ‘I will give you guys N250,000 if you allow me to equally increase the pump price of petroleum products,’ and we said, ‘No, we need to go and consult.’
“Today, we went there to tell him, ‘No.’ The labour movement can make sacrifices without allowing Nigerians to suffer further from the increase in the pump price of petroleum products,” Mr Ajaero noted.
Mr Ajaero also revealed that part of the agreement for organised labour to accept the N70,000 offer was that there will be wage reviews for Nigerian workers every three years, and no longer every five years.
The president will send an executive bill containing the new minimum wage agreement with organised labour to the National Assembly for it to be passed into law.
