Tinubu says new minimum wage ready for legislative action

Tinubu says new minimum wage ready for legislative action

President Bola Tinubu said on Wednesday that an agreement had been reached on a new minimum wage between the Federal Government and organised labour.

He stated this in his national broadcast to mark the 2024 Democracy Day in Abuja.
Tinubu added that an executive bill would soon be sent to the National Assembly to legalise the new minimum wage.

He said, “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.”

He said his administration chose a democratic approach over dictatorship in addressing the demands of labour.

“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.

“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,” Tinubu said.

The President 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.

“The words of the American President Franklin Roosevelt certainly ring true: There are many ways of going forward. But only one way of standing still.”

The labour had settled for N250,000 as new minimum wage, while the Federal Government team stayed on N62,000, both proposals were sent to President Tinubu at the close of negotiation on the issue.

This came after several failed meetings between the government and labour unions.