The Nigerian Labour Congress clarified its stance on the proposed N500,000 minimum wage, emphasizing that it has not endorsed any specific amount to present to the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage negotiations.
Speaking to newsmen during an interview in Yola, Adamawa State, the President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, revealed this information.
During the North-East zonal public hearing conducted by the tripartite committee on national wage, Ajaero clarified that the NLC is not acquainted with the suggested N500,000 and N700,000 as potential new minimum wage benchmarks.
He said, “The N500,000, N700,000 you are hearing are being collated at the level of the states. In Lagos and other places, I think they are about N700,000 while in other places they are talking about N500,000 which are inputs collated from geopolitical zones.
He noted that there had been no presentation from the NLC secretariat, stressing that the minimum figures had been supplied by the states. Additionally, he stated that after consolidating the data, they would create a centralized presentation using the information gathered from the states.
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“But the NLC secretariat has not made any presentation, these minimum figures are what is coming from the states. When we collate them then we’ll do a central presentation based on the raw materials we are getting from states.
“It (minimum wage) has to be relative to the cost of living in those states. You will agree with me that rent here is not as that in Abuja, and not the same thing as in Lagos. So relatively speaking you won’t have a straitjacket-like presentation by Labour in all the states.”
Dr. Solomon Bulus, Chairperson of the Nigerian Medical Association in Adamawa State, highlighted the support from the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council for the implementation of the N500,000 new minimum wage, emphasizing its role in alleviating the current national hardship.