The Organised Labour has decried the Federal Executive Council’s (FEC) delay tactics on the memorandum on the report of the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage.

It was gathered the FEC had on Tuesday stepped-down action on the memo.

In a swift reaction, the Head, Public Relations at the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Benson Upah, raised a strong voice against the failure of FEC to consider the memo at Tuesday’s meeting.

Upah insisted that the stepping down the tripartite committee report “creates room for injurious speculations.”

On his part, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, told media men after the FEC meeting that they stepped down the memorandum on the new minimum wage to allow for more consultations between President Bola Tinubu, state governors, local government authorities and the private sector.

According to Idris, the FEC deferred acting on the memo on the ground that the Federal Government is not the sole stakeholder on the national minimum wage issue.

Recall that the Federal Government, the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and Organised Labour had held several meetings on the new minimum wage with the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) leaders insisting on N250,000.

The Federal Government, states and the OPS, had, however, made a counter-offer of N62,000.

The interesting twist in the matter appears to be the state governors, under the banner of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) having declared that any minimum wage higher than N60,000 was not sustainable.

While that was going on, some voices of reason including reputable economists threw a figure of N100,000 into the conversation.

However, the Assistant General Secretary of the NLC, Chris Onyeka, had made it clear that Labour would accept neither the Federal Government’s offer of N62,000 nor the N100,000 thrown up by independent voices.

Labour’s position was reinforced by the words of its President, Joe Ajaero, that the unionists were waiting on the President to consider Labour’s proposal.

It does appear that the Federal Government was aiming to politicize the issue of minimum wage by taking the campaign to even religious bodies.

The Minister for Information, had told the 2024 Synod of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria in Abuja, that the government was focused on a realistic wage system with a view to safeguarding employment and guarding against mass retrenchment.

According to Idris, the N250,000 minimum wage proposal could undermine the economy, lead to mass retrenchment of workers and jeopardise the welfare of Nigerians.

The concerns in certain quarters note that in his Democracy Day broadcast, President Tinubu assured that he would forward a bill on the new minimum wage to the National Assembly soon.

He told governors and members of the National Assembly on the occasion of the nation’s 25th Democracy Day anniversary at the State House that his administration would pay whatever it could afford as the new minimum wage.

President Tinubu’s stand had drawn the ire of Labour, which insisted that the political office-holders should also be paid the minimum wage.

The Senate spokesman, Yemi Adaramodu, said, “The President will likely send the minimum wage bill after the Sallah break.”

Recall that the Senate had adjourned plenary for the Sallah break and is due to resume on July 2.

But the then acting President of the NLC, Prince Adewale Adeyanju, said Labour would not accept the N62,000 proposed by the government and OPS, advising the President to pay workers a living wage and ignore those he described as sycophants.

He also refuted insinuations that a consensus had been reached between the Federal Government and Labour on the new wage.

On Monday, the NLC President, Ajaero, mentioned that Organised Labour expected Tinubu to reach out to the members of the tripartite committee to harmonise the figure, given the stalemate at the end of the committee meeting.

Addressing State House correspondents after Tuesday’s FEC meeting, the information minister, Idris, explained that the President needed to interact with other wage-paying entities to factor their contributions and circumstances into the executive bill on minimum wage that would be passed on to the National Assembly for passage into law.

He stated, “I want to inform Nigerians here that the Federal Executive Council deliberated on that (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 Government, the state governments, local governments, and the organised private sector and of course, including the organised labour.

“That memo was stepped down to enable Mr President to consult further, especially with the state governors and the organised private sector, before he makes a presentation to the National Assembly before an executive bill is presented to the National Assembly.

“So I want to state that on the new national minimum wage, Mr President is going to consult further so that he can have an informed position because the new national minimum wage, as I said, is not just an issue of the Federal Government.”

He said the President studied the report and will “consult wider before a final submission is made to the National Assembly.”

Reacting to the FEC’s decision, the NLC spokesman, Upah, declared that stepping down the minimum wage memo did not bode well for workers.

When asked if the decision to postpone the consideration of the minimum wage memo was a waste of time, he responded, “Definitely, stepping down the minimum wage memo does not bode well with or for us. It creates room for injurious speculations.”

The Deputy National President of the TUC, Tommy Etim, said he expected the President to address the ‘grey areas’ ahead of the transmission of the executive bill on the new minimum wage to the National Assembly.

“I want to believe that the government is very conscious of the grey areas which organised labour has pointed at, especially the amount to be accepted by every party involved, the frequency of review and criteria for the review and application.

“These, amongst others, are the burning issues which to the best of my knowledge need to be addressed before its consideration by FEC to the National Assembly,’’ he noted.