Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Osun Chapter, Mr. Christopher Arapasopo, announced that joint labour unions have agreed to enforce the new N70,000 minimum wage across all states, warning that any state failing to comply will be shut down.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Osogbo, the state capital, Arapasopo emphasized that the unions agreed on the new minimum wage to prevent a hike in fuel pump prices.
He stated, “During our NEC meeting, all members agreed to enforce the minimum wage in all states, and any state that fails to pay will be shut down. The governors can’t claim they weren’t present when it was agreed. In fact, they were the ones advocating for N70,000 as the minimum wage.”
“We, as labour, suggested N250,000, and they brought it down to N62,000 before settling on N70,000, which we accepted. We have sacrificed a lot of things. So, for any government or governor that fails to pay, we will shut that state down. It is a must for them to pay. It is a no-go area. We are not negotiating that,” Arapasopo insisted.
He further explained that the NEC meeting, which concluded a few hours ago, saw all state representatives adopt the agreed amount based on certain considerations. “The President said if we insisted on our demand of N250,000, he would have to increase the fuel price. But as good citizens of Nigeria, we believe the demand should not benefit a particular sector alone. As workers, we should think about other Nigerians and not just ourselves. So, we made the sacrifice to accept the N70,000 to avoid the price of fuel going up,” Arapasopo added.
Arapasopo pointed out that if the union had insisted on the N250,000 minimum wage, both Nigerians and workers would suffer from increased fuel prices and inflation. He noted that the N70,000 agreed upon is fair, as it would be the minimum salary paid to workers in the lowest cadre.
He also mentioned that consequential adjustments and benefits attached to various levels would increase the wage upon implementation. “The Osun chapter of the union will meet with the state government to discuss some allowances for workers, but the minimum wage stands non-negotiable,” he affirmed.
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