…..Federal workers cry out, give FG September deadline
One month after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the N70,000 new National Minimum Wage Act, most states of the federation are yet to take serious measures to implement the law.
Except for Adamawa State, which has implemented the law by paying its workers the national wage this month, the best a few other states have done is to set up minimum wage implementation committees, whose reports are being awaited.
This situation is further compounded by the federal authorities’ failure to develop a consequential adjustment template on which the new wage would be computed for full-scale implementation.
LEADERSHIP Weekend’s investigations revealed that even the organised labour has resolved to wait for the release of the adjustment modalities before any further negotiations with the state governments.
The labour leaders told our correspondents that any negotiation without the template would be an exercise in futility.
They, therefore, appealed to the members to exercise patience and await the release of the modalities to ensure better negotiation outcome.
President Tinubu signed the wage law on July 29, 2024 after a long-drawn negotiation with organised labour.
Before the president’s assent to the bill, the Edo State government had raised the minimum wage for its workers to N70,000. This makes Adamawa and Edo states the only two of the 36 states of the federation paying the minimum wage.
In Akwa Ibom State, LEADERSHIP Weekend learnt that the state branch of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was yet to begin talks on the wage ceiling for the workforce.
In separate interviews with our correspondent, the chairman of the NLC, Sunny James, and the head of service, Elder Effiong Essien, explained the reasons behind the implementation delay.
“We have not started anything on the new minimum wage in Akwa Ibom, and my position is very simple: when there’s new minimum wage legislation, the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), in conjunction with the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC) of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), will have to meet and agree on consequential adjustment.
“We have N70,000 new minimum wage, so there has to be a consequential adjustment to make the salary table flow in a seamless manner. If you apply the 133 percentage uniformly, salaries of those on Level 14, and 15 will be very high.
“Akwa Ibom State governor will not complain that he cannot pay N70,000. And there’s no way we can collect anything less than N70,000 as the new minimum wage. We will not accept that. The governor has not also said that he will not pay,” the NLC chairman said.
For his part, Essien said discussions would commence as soon as the federal government releases the circular on the consequential adjustment.
In Zamfara State, the government said it would establish a committee to devise the modalities for paying the N70,000 minimum wage.
The Director-General of media and communications (DG), Nuhu Salihu Anka, said the government is moving towards implementing the new minimum wage.
He said that as part of the preparations, the government would set up a committee to determine how the wage would be paid and the payment modalities.
The state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Sani Halliru, told LEADERSHIP Weekend that the workers would meet with Governor Dauda Lawal on the new N70,000 minimum wage payment.
He said a letter on the new minimum wage had been sent to the governor for a meeting on the matter.
In an interview with LEADERSHIP Weekend, the Kano State chairman of the NLC, Kabiru Inuwa, said labour union was waiting for the National Income and Wages Commission to release the consequential adjustment, which will serve as a guide for the state.
Without the table, there is no basis for confronting the government, he said, noting that even the federal government had not started implementation.
Inuwa further said the union is also waiting for the advisory committee set up by the state government on the new minimum wage implementation. As such, the union cannot venture into anything until they have all the provisions.
Recently, the state commissioner for planning and budget, Musa Shanono, told newsmen that the state government had submitted a supplementary budget of N99. 221 billion to the House of Assembly for approval, which would cover the payment of the minimum wage.
In Sokoto State, there are no official moves to implement the new salary scheme.
The state government has neither constituted any committee to work out the modalities of paying the new wage, nor taken a position on whether the state will pay.
Mum was the response from the state government as those contacted on the matter declined to comment.
However, state workers are patiently waiting to see what path the state NLC executives will toe to make the payment of the new wage a reality.
In Plateau State, the commissioner for information and communication, Hon. Musa Ashoms, told our correspondent that those who know the state’s financial status are examining the situation to ascertain whether the administration can pay the new minimum wage.
He said, “If we can pay or there is contrary reason, the state government will engage the leadership of the NLC in the state.”
The state chairman of the union, Comrade Eugene Mangji, when contacted on phone, said although President Tinubu has signed the bill into law, the state government has not issued any circular stating whether it is going to pay.
In Cross River State, the NLC chairman, Comrade Gregory Olayi, said the state government is yet to comply with the payment of new minimum wage.
He said that the union had not force the state government to commence the payment because it was waiting for the template to be used for the exercise.
“We are waiting for the table so we don’t goof at the end of the day. The table will assist us in ascertaining where to start and end, so we don’t run into problems.
“Once the table is out, the union will swing into action to do what our members expect of us. We want to ensure that everything we do is backed by law,” he said
The chief press secretary to Cross River State governor, Mr. Nsa Gill, said the government had not complied with the N70,000 minimum wage declared by the federal government.
The CPS, who could not say whether Governor Otu’s administration was ready to comply with the directives, said, “For now, we are still paying N40,000 minimum wage because our administration has yet to find a modality to comply with the directives of the federal government regarding payment of the new minimum wage.”
In Ondo State, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has promised to implement the N70,000 minimum wage. However, no date has been fixed for its commencement.
A credible source said the leadership of organised labour and the government’s team were still meeting to discuss the payment modalities.
Recently, the Ondo Joint Negotiation Council, headed by Comrade Olapade Ademola Adeniji, constituted a nine-man Technical Committee on Minimum Wage.
A statement by JNC secretary, Comrade Esther Foluke Akinleye, said: “The primary mandate of this committee is to work on the pressing issues of New Minimum Wage. Their task will be to carefully review, analyse, and develop different salary tables after comparing them with those of other states.
The commissioner for information and orientation, Hon. Wale Akinlosotu, told our reporter that talks between labour and the government were ongoing.
The Ebonyi State government has assured the workers of its readiness to implement the new wage when all the issues are concluded and the salary chat is made available.
The commissioner for information and state orientation, Mr. Jude Okpor, said the governor and other relevant stakeholders had been meeting to reach a conclusion on the wage.
When contacted, the chairman of NLC, Comrade Oguguo Egwu, said the new wage issue had not been discussed in the state.
He said, “This is because the state council of NLC is waiting for the directive from the national secretariat to initiate the wage implementation process. This directive will have a well-processed chart for consequential adjustments and subsequent implementation.
“However, the state council is hopeful that our worker-friendly governor will not hesitate to pay when the chart is released. The moment it is released, we will initiate the process with the state government setting up an implementation committee,” he said.
Meanwhile, Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah has inaugurated the committee to implement the New National Minimum Wage for Civil and Public Servants in Enugu State, giving the Committee a maximum of one month to submit its report.
FEDERAL CIVIL SERVANTS LAMENT DELAY
Meanwhile, federal civil servants have decried the delay in implementing the approved minimum wage.
They, however, expressed the hope that the payment would begin soon to alleviate their plight as the cost of living crisis bites harder.
A senior director in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation who preferred anonymity said that, at present, nobody can say when it will begin.
He said, “It was not long ago that the president signed the minimum wage into law. I believe that it will be implemented soonest, but as we are talking, I cannot tell you when it will be implemented. We should wait to receive August’s salary; that is when we will find out.”
However, a union leader in the federal civil service, Tersoo Zamber, said the investigation revealed that the implementation of the minimum wage was not captured in the August salary, and workers are hoping it will be reflected in the September salary.
He said, “We thank the federal government for approving the wage, even though it was below our expectations. They have not started the implementation of the minimum wage, which ought to have started since May.
“But we understand that the negotiations dragged on for too long and were concluded barely a month ago. We are hoping that the implementation of the minimum wage, which is still not okay, will be done very soon because of the country’s biting economic challenge.
“Things are getting worse, and when you have given people the hope and the minimum wage has been signed into law, and it is just on paper and the media, but not entering people’s accounts, it further aggravates that anxiety,” he said.
He further said that it is another call to the federal government to ensure that the implementation takes effect immediately and that the arrears, which have run for about four to five months now, are promptly paid to workers.
“As I said earlier, this is not what Nigerian workers expected. The president said he would give workers a living wage, but given the country’s economic situation, N70,000 is not a living wage.
“However, they have reduced the review period from five to three years, which is also commendable, but we are calling for immediate implementation to reduce suffering.
“From our investigations, it is sad that the implementation is not included in the August salary, and workers are taken aback. We are hoping and praying hard that it will come by September, but I can confirm to you that it is not included in the August salary, and we are wondering why,” he said, adding that government should not take workers’ patience for granted.
Credit: Leadership
