President Bola Tinubu has formally requested the National Assembly to pass the minimum wage bill, which aims to formalize the recently agreed-upon N70,000 minimum wage between the federal government and organized labor.
Gatekeepers News reports that the president’s request was conveyed in letters read by the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, and Senate President Godswill Akpabio, during Tuesday’s plenary session.
The bill seeks to establish a new national minimum wage, which was negotiated after labor unions demanded an increase due to inflation and economic hardship.
Initially, the unions proposed N494,000, but later reduced it to N250,000, and eventually accepted N70,000 after meetings with President Tinubu.
In addition to the minimum wage bill, President Tinubu recently requested a N6.2 trillion increase to the 2024 appropriation Act, with N3.2 trillion allocated for infrastructure projects and N3 trillion for recurrent expenditure, including the new national minimum wage.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, defended the president’s request, explaining that the infrastructure projects will include several road and rail initiatives, such as the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri project, spanning multiple states.
The passage of the minimum wage bill is crucial, as labor unions had previously grounded the nation’s economy over the dispute. President Tinubu’s request for swift passage aims to ensure implementation and alleviate economic pressures on workers.
