President Bola Ahmed Tinubu says conclusion has been reached on the controversial and long-debated new minimum wage between the Federal Government and Organised Labour.
In his national broadcast to mark the 2024 Democracy Day in Abuja on Wednesday, Tinubu revealed that an executive bill will soon be sent to the National Assembly to formalise the new minimum wage agreement.
His words, “In this spirit, we have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with Organised Labour on a new national minimum wage.
“We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less.”
According to him, his administration chose a democratic approach over dictatorship in addressing the demands of the labour unions.
“In the face of labour’s call for a national strike, we did not seek to oppress or crack down on the workers as a dictatorial government would have done. We chose the path of cooperation over conflict.
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“No one was arrested or threatened. Instead, the labour leadership was invited to break bread and negotiate toward a good-faith resolution. Reasoned discussion and principled compromise are hallmarks of democracy. These themes shall continue to animate my policies and interaction with the constituent parts of our political economy,” he said.
Vowing to ensure that no Nigerian is oppressed, he added, “I take on this vital task without fear or favour and I commit myself to this work until we have built a Nigeria where no man is oppressed. In the end, our national greatness will not be achieved by travelling the easy road. It can only be achieved by taking the right one.”
On June 3, labour embarked on a nationwide indefinite strike over the Federal Government’s refusal to raise the proposed minimum wage from N60,000.
This came following failed negotiations between the duo.
While the government and the Organised Private Sector agreed on N62,000, labour on the other hand demanded N250,000.
