New minimum wage won’t be ready in April — Labour

The Trade Union Congress(TUC) of Nigeria has demanded the payment of N35, 000 March and April wage award to workers.

The Congress said public workers have not received their March and April pay as agreed with the Federal Government.

President of TUC, Comrade Festus Osifo said this at a briefing with reporters on Thursday at the end of the National Executive Council meeting of the union in Abuja.

President Bola Tinubu gave approval for the payment of N35, 000 wage award to federal workers following the removal of petrol subsidy.

The government agreed to pay the money to civil servants for six months.

But Osifo urged the government to continue to pay the wage to federal workers until a new national minimum wage was negotiated.

Osifo commended States that have been consistent in paying their workers the wage.

The TUC leader lambasted Imo, Delta, Benue, Katsina, Kebbi and Anambra among others for refusing to pay wage award to workers despite huge allocations from the federation account.

He said: “NEC in session discussed the issue of minimum wage, we insist that the only way to reflate your economy is when people have money to purchase items. When people lack purchasing power, the effect is that manufacturers will produce and keep on the shelf. So the minimum wage committee should hasten up to unveil a new minimum wage.

“On wage award, the last wage award paid to workers was February 2024. That of March and April 2024 has not been paid as we speak. We call on the government to release it so that when salary is coming in, the wage award should be paid too.

“While a number of states have been up and doing in terms of remitting the wage award, states like Benue has been lagging behind on workers welfare, Anambra is also culpable in this payment, we thought that since it is one State being led by an economist, he should be able to put on his thinking cap, Imo, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Kebbi and Katsina are equally lagging behind.”

On the inability of the Port Harcourt refinery to kick off operations by April as promised by the federal government, Osifo said it was part of the reasons for the resurgence of fuel queues in some parts of the country.

He urged the government to hasten up and actualise the operation of the refinery so as to lessen the economic hardship in the country.

He stated: “Sometime last year, TUC made a visit to Port Harcourt refinery and the government told us that by April the refinery will start production, but till date nothing is working there. We urge the government to do everything possible to make it operational.”

The TUC leadership also carpeted the federal government over the unilateral decision to increase electricity tariff of customers in Band A without consultation with stakeholders.

Osifo said such decisions are not implemented in advanced climes.

He said it is even more worrisome that most Nigerians are not metred, calling on the government to rescind the implementation in the interest of the suffering masses.

Read Also: Tinubu remains courageous leader, says ex-PSC chairman

Osifo also decried the level of insecurity in the country, lamenting that farmers cannot go to their farms for cultivation for fear of being killed.

He warned that unless the government tackled the security situation head on, the prices of foodstuffs and other commodities would keep rising beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians.

“We call on the government to tame insecurity because farmers are no longer farming, we see what is happening in Benue and Jos. People need to go to farm to cultivate, that is what will reduce the price of goods and other commodities in our market,” Osifo said.

Osifo said: “We held our NEC where we reflected on the recent increment in electricity tariff, we consider this decision as being too hasty.

“There are provisions that ought to have been followed before you increase electricity tariff, there ought to be stakeholders engagement, but in this case it was not done.

“Today, electricity tariffs are being increased when some people are still using estimated billing. We had expected that by now every single house in Nigeria should have pre-paid metre, we insist that there must be stakeholders engagement to arrive at a critical decision like this.