June 12: Bill on new minimum wage will be sent to National Assembly soon – Tinubu

In commemoration of 25 years of uninterrupted democracy, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, during a nationwide broadcast, affirmed that an executive bill would soon be sent to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as a new national minimum wage as part of “our law” for the next five years or less.

The president, while stating this during his broadcast, acknowledged the economic difficulties the country faced as a nation while appealing to Nigerians to commit to the fulfilment of the realisation of “our economic democracy.”

TRIPARTITE COMMITTEE ON MINIMUM WAGE SUBMITS REPORT

The Informant247 had earlier reported that the 37-member Tripartite Committee on National Minimum led by Bukar Goni Aji-led on Monday submitted its report after about five months of sittings.

Representatives of the federal government and the private sector in the tripartite committee for negotiating new minimum wage proposed N62,000, while the organised labour scaled down from N494,000 to N250,000.

With the submission of the report, the president is expected to make a decision and send an executive bill to the National Assembly to pass a new minimum wage bill, which the president will then sign into law.

However, the president, while commenting on the new minimum wage in his broadcast, said the economic reforms initiated were necessary repairs required to fix the economy over the long run so that everyone had access to economic opportunity, fair play and compensation for their endeavour and labour.

Tinubu said, “Our economy has been in desperate need of reform for decades. It has been unbalanced because it was built on the flawed foundation of over-reliance on revenues from the exploitation of oil.

“The reforms we have initiated are intended to create a stronger, better foundation for future growth. There is no doubt the reforms have occasioned hardship, yet they are necessary repairs required to fix the economy over the long-run so that everyone has access to economic opportunity, fair play and compensation for his endeavour and labour. As we continue to reform the economy, I shall always listen to the people and will never turn my back on you.

“In this spirit, we have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with organised labour on a new national minimum wage. We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less.

“In the face of labour’s call for a national strike, we did not seek to oppress or crack down on the workers as a dictatorial government would have done. We chose the path of cooperation over conflict. No one was arrested or threatened. Instead, the labour leadership was invited to break bread and negotiate towards a good-faith resolution.

“Reasoned discussion and principled compromise are hallmarks of democracy. These themes shall continue to animate my policies and interaction with the constituent parts of our political economy.”

President Tinubu pledged to protect the country’s democracy at all costs, adding that he would also do his utmost best to “protect your rights, freedoms and liberties as citizens of Nigeria.”

The president reminded Nigerians that no matter how complicated democracy was: “It is the best form of governance in the long run,” adding, “We must also be aware that there are those among us who will try to exploit current challenges to undermine, if not destroy, this democracy for which so much has already been given.”

TINUBU ACKNOWLEDGES THE STRUGGLE OF GREAT HEROES AND HEROINES IN THE ACTUALIZATION OF DEMOCRACY

Tinubu, who went down memory lane, said during the struggle for democracy, the country lost great heroes and heroines.

He said the winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, his wife, Kudirat, General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and Pa Alfred Rewane, among others, sacrificed their lives, stressing that they surrendered their futures so that our nation might have a better one.

The president said what democracy demanded “is that we do not resolve differences through force and repression. But we make allowance for the legitimacy of views that differ from our own.”