Governors panic as Tinubu meets Labour over minimum wage

The 36 state governors will be under immense pressure from President Bola Tinubu when consultation on a new minimum wage gets underway today in Abuja.

The Guardian learnt, last night, that while Labour may be willing to come down from its N250,000 demand, it may not accept five figures.

According to Labour sources, studies have been carried out on allocations each state gets from the Federation Account, as well as their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to be presented to the President as part of their justification for a significant raise.

A senior official of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) confided in The Guardian, yesterday, that the “President is expected to galvanise the governors” on the agreed figure.

“The President is meeting the Labour centres on Thursday by 2:00p.m. at Aso Villa. We already have a position. Both NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have always been together all through. We have always spoken with one voice since the negotiations began. We are meeting with the President with a position paper. At the end of the day, getting the best deal for the Nigerian workers is the only focus,” he said.

The source added that Labour was not bothered about the shenanigans being put together by governors, saying they would supply the President with the true state of things at the state level.

He added: “We know the level of wastage in the states. If governors cut their flamboyant lifestyles, they can pay a minimum wage of N250,000 without sacking a single worker.”

Presidential aides are expected to unveil some social interventions to ameliorate the hardships on Nigerian workers to get reasonable wages. The government also plans to increase social spending (Conditional Cash Transfer) and reduce food inflation via importation.

Sources at the Ministry of Finance told The Guardian that the President would likely tell Labour his plans concerning the ongoing civil service reform to reduce recurrent expenditure, preparatory to the emergence of a new minimum wage.

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