By Favour Olekanma Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana has called on the National Assembly to swiftly ap...
By Favour Olekanma
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi
Falana has called on the National Assembly to swiftly approve a law to
establish a revised minimum wage that aligns with the current economic
situation in the country, similar to how they recently did for the national
anthem.
According to him, the National Minimum Wage Act 2019 had
expired making it crucial for the government at all levels to review and pass a
new law to that effect.
“Pursuant to the National Minimum Wage Act 2019, the
national minimum wage was fixed at N30,000. By virtue of section 3(4) of the
Act 2019 the national minimum wage expires after five years, and it shall be
reviewed in line with the provisions of this Act.
“Since the commencement date of the Act was the 18th day of
April 2019, the national minimum wage of N30,000 has since expired.
He added that the Federal Government had announced an
additional N35,000 wage award (wage subsidy) for six months, following the
removal of the fuel subsidy. starting from 1 September 2023.
However, the Federal Government turned around to offer a
minimum wage of N48,000 which led to the commencement of an indefinite strike
by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress due to the failure of
government and other employers of labour to pay a realistic new minimum wage to
Nigerian workers.
Falana continued, “However, it has been reported that the
leaders of the National Assembly have intervened in the planned strike.
“The National Assembly should, therefore, speedily pass a
new National Minimum Wage Act like the new National Anthem Act that was enacted
within 48 hours, last week.”
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