The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has said President Muhammadu Buhari will soon approve the setting up of a 29-man committee to engage organised Labour in negotiating a new national minimum wage for workers.
He said the committeeโs report will be subjected to the scrutiny of the National Assembly before it can be implemented by the government.
Organised Labour comprising the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has submitted a N56,000 new national minimum wage request to the government.
The minister, who addressed reporters in his office after a meeting of the technical committee, said the committee was yet to be set up, adding that the technical committee set up in June 2016 to work out modalities for the review of the palliatives would soon submit its report to the main committee.
He said in accordance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, it was within the ambit of the National Assembly to amend the minimum wage act, since national minimum wage issues are on the exclusive list.
According to him, the main committee made up of eight ministers and the Secretary to Government of the Federation, as well as Labour leaders, will adopt or review the report before submitting it to President Buhari, who will approve the composition of the national minimum wage committee.
Ngige said for the first time in the history of minimum wage negotiation, the Nigeria Governors Forum would be represented by three of their colleagues, while the private sector employers would also be represented.
