President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to immediately commence the reviewing of the N30,000 recommended minimum wage by labour. The president made this promise while receiving the report of the Presidential Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) on the implementation of the New Minimum Wage.
Receiving the report of the panel which was chaired by the MD of the Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane, Buhari said the report would be reviewed expeditiously.
In the meantime, however, there are speculations that the president has already signed into law the proposed N30,000 new minimum wage. According to rumour, the payment of this new minimum wage will commence in May 2019 to mark the International Workers’ Day.
How Bismarck Rewane’s committee was tasked
Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, had tasked the Technical Committee on the Implementation of a new Minimum Wage, to identify additional sources of revenue to pay the minimum wage and the consequential salary adjustment that will follow.
During an interactive session with newsmen, Udoma said that the committee would, among other things, identify additional sources of revenue to ensure that the government could meet the increased costs that would arise from the implementation of a new minimum wage.
The Minister also explained that whenever a new minimum wage bill is enacted, there are demands for some wage increases even from those already earning more than the new minimum wage.
Prior to This
President Muhammadu Buhari, in November last year, inaugurated the National Wage Committee led by former minister and Head of Service, Ama Pepple.
During the 40th anniversary of NLC in Abuja, the Minister had stated that the new minimum wage would commence before the end of September, this year. He later backtracked, because the state governors were yet to submit their proposal on a new wage system.
In order to mount pressure on the Federal Government, the NLC gave a two-week ultimatum and then commenced a nationwide strike.
The minimum wage was last increased by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2011 from ₦7,500 to ₦18,000.
