The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, on Thursday, held a meeting with President Bola Tinubu against the backdrop of ongoing discussions on a new national minimum wage.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, was also in attendance at the meeting which held at the State House in Abuja.
It was gathered that during the meeting, Edun presented a new minimum wage template to President Tinubu, meeting the 48-hour deadline earlier issued to him.
Emerging from Thursday’s meeting, Minister Edun addressed the press, stating, “There is no cause for alarm,” but didn’t reveal further details of what transpired during the meeting.
However, according to sources quoted by WesternPost, the template proposes a new minimum wage of ₦105,000 (approximately $220 USD) per month for Nigerian workers.
The source added that Tinubu is currently reviewing the proposal, and an official announcement would be made soon.
Our correspondent gathered that the government team may unveil the new proposal during today’s meeting of the tripartite committee on minimum wage, which is made up of the government, organized labour, and the organized private sector.
The urgency of these orders underlines the government’s commitment to resolving the contentious minimum wage issue, which has repeatedly stalled negotiations.
Previously, the government and the Organized Private Sector had proposed a minimum wage of ₦60,000, which was outrightly rejected by organized labour representatives and resulted in the nationwide strike action which rocked the country on Monday and was eventually suspended on Tuesday after interventions in which some agreements were signed between the government and the labour.