…the National Assembly should not go into this exercise in futility unless members will also allow their respective states to determine their wages – says NLC
The iNews Times reports that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has declared its unwavering rejection of the National Assembly’s proposal to transfer labour issues, including the national minimum wage, from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list.
This move, if implemented, would grant individual states the authority to determine their workers’ wages.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero, expressed his concerns during the National Administrative Council meeting of the Central Working Committee in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The NLC boss described the proposal as “an exercise in futility” and a calculated attempt to undermine the national minimum wage structure.
He emphasized that the issue of minimum wage is treated globally as a national matter, in line with International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, which regard member countries as entities, not sub-national units.
“The National Assembly should not go into this exercise in futility unless members will also allow their respective states to determine their wages. If they attempt to smuggle labour matters into the concurrent list, we will mobilise workers to protest against it, even up to election day,” Ajaero warned.
He stressed that organised labour would firmly oppose any effort to undermine the minimum wage, calling on lawmakers to uphold justice and protect the interests of citizens.
Ajaero highlighted the importance of a national minimum wage, noting that it is a global standard for protecting workers.
“All over the world, there is a minimum wage for the protection of workers. In Nigeria, there is legislation for a minimum wage of N70,000. The law permits states to pay more than that, and in fact, many states currently pay above the minimum wage,” he said.
The NLC president insisted that allowing states to determine minimum wages independently would endanger the welfare of average workers across the federation.
He also clarified that the NLC leadership was not aware of any state that had refused to pay the newly approved minimum wage.
In a related matter, Ajaero emphasized the need for the Supreme Court to provide further interpretation on its ruling regarding local government autonomy to ensure full and proper enforcement, in line with constitutional provisions.
