Following the potential impact on the economy, the Federal government (FG) has expressed concerns about the state of the workers' salaries.
Consequently, the FG said, it is considering increasing the minimum wage to 200,000 Naira per month, as requested by organized labour and some experts are concerned about the potential impact on the economy.
State governors are urging caution regarding the proposed minimum wage increase, while a Technical Working Group (TWG) chaired by Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo has been tasked with resolving the issues.
The matter as gathered by the NATIONAL PANEL, was discussed at the last month’s National Economic Council (NEC) meeting.
We learnt that it was there that the Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission made a presentation on how the federal government can meet up with the demand for N200,000 per month minimum wage.
Our sources said, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu believes the organised labour’s demand for a higher minimum wage is not unrealistic, citing his campaign promises as proof of his readings to handle the challenge.
Also at the NEC meeting, which the president inaugurated in June, the Salaries and Wages Commission costed the financial implications of the said minimum wage increase and showed how the federal government could pay it, with a certain recommendation that it was well within the capacity of the federal government.
However, at the meeting, the state governors who made up the membership of the NEC raised questions about the proposal.
Leading the governors at the meeting was Anambra State governor, Prof Charles Soludo, who argued that before adopting the presentation to significantly raise the national minimum wage, it would be important for NEC to first understand where the money would come from, how much would come and what states would get.
Part of the expectations and planning is that with the new foreign exchange policy, more cash would be available to be shared by the federal and state governments under the FAAC monthly distribution.
According to informed sources, there would be enough surplus cash to enable the significant raising of the minimum wage from N30,000 to N100,000 monthly.
Furthermore, the savings from the fuel subsidy would further mean more cash inflow to the federation account. -News Direct.
