The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) says, any amount above N62,000 approved as minimum will create job losses.
Mr Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, Director-General of NECA said this, while speaking with journalists on Tuesday in .Abuja .
He spoke on the sidelines of the third edition of the Nigeria’ Employers Summit with the theme, “Economic Renaissance: Harnessing Government Reforms and Private Sector Agility,”
Oyerinde said that the organised private sector cannot afford above the N62, 000 as agreed during the tripartite committee negotiation meetings.
New Minimum Wage: It’s the value, not the amount, Stupid
According to him, any figure above N62,000, will create two different dynamics – setting the the tone for non-compliance and attendant litigations.
He stressed that setting a national minimum wage that will take away the ability to pay will set a stage for litigation and crisis.
On the allegation of delay in the process, Oyerinde said that there was no delay as the process was ongoing, accordingly.
“There is no waiting game and I think we have to put all this in context. It is misinformation,’ he said.
He said after the tripartite committee’s recommendations to the President, a Bill is expected to be sent to the national assembly for legislation.
He said what the labour can advocate for, is a fast-track of the process.
FEC steps down memo on minimum wage
Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has said the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Tinubu at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja stepped down the memo on the new national minimum wage.
The minister said a memo on the report of the new minimum wage was presented to the council but noted that it was stepped down, being a national matter that had to do with the governors and the organized private sector.
He said it was after wider consultations with the relevant stakeholders that the President, with informed knowledge, would then forward a figure that would be the national minimum wage.
Recall that at the end of the tripartite committee meeting on the new national minimum wage, the government team and organized private sector offered N62,000 from the current N30,000 but Labour, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, demanded N250,000 living wage.
The decision of the President to consult the relevant stakeholders is coming on the heels of a statement by the President of the NLC, Mr. Joe Ajaero, that Labour had expected the President to reach out to members of the tripartite committee to harmonize the figure.
Comrade Ajaero had hinged his position on the fact that there was a stalemate at the end of the tripartite committee meetings.
But briefing State House correspondents, the minister said: “I want to inform Nigerians here that the Federal Executive Council, FEC, deliberated on that (report of the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage) and the decision is that because the new national minimum wage is not just that of the federal government, it is an issue that involves the federal, state, local governments, and organized private sector and, of course, organized labour.
“That memo was stepped down to enable Mr. President to consult further, especially with the state governors and organized private sector, before he makes a presentation to the National Assembly, and before an executive bill is presented to the National Assembly
