Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has put forward a proposal for a new minimum wage of 90,000 naira for workers in Nigeria. This suggestion aims to address the ongoing dispute over the minimum wage between the Federal government and organized Labour.
During Tuesday’s Senate plenary, the discussion centered around the nationwide strike organised by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) to advocate for a significantly increased minimum wage, surpassing the current N30,000.
“N60,000 might sound very good let the entire Senate see how we can persuade both Labour and the Federal government to agree between N75, 000 to N90, 000 naira.
“If you go by N90,000 , it means in the last five years in which this law (30,000naira) was made , it means if you divide 200 percent of N90,000 by 5 it will give you 40 and the food inflation, the purchasing parity and other things you have in the market its also around 32 to 33% so Labour should be very happy with what We are doing.
“Let us send a Senate delegation to the Federal Government and the Labour Party with the proposal of 90,000 naira and all the parties should agree to that.
“Pulling down the National Grid Mr. President is not an easy job and it might take up to three to four days for it to come up , shutting down and starting a National grid is a problem.
“The Federal Government and the Labour should be cautioned to come to an agreement. Though it’s going to be difficult for the private sector to pay, they must manage,”he said.
