By Milcah Tanimu
On Thursday, President Bola Tinubu held a pivotal meeting at the State House with key economic officials, including Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, and Senator Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning. This meeting is part of ongoing efforts to resolve the impasse over a new national minimum wage between the government and labor unions.
Earlier this week, on Tuesday, June 6, President Tinubu tasked Minister Edun with formulating a financially sustainable and widely acceptable new minimum wage proposal. This directive emerged from a resolution during a meeting chaired by George Akume, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), where it was disclosed that the President aims to set a minimum wage exceeding ₦60,000.
The negotiation process faced a hurdle on Wednesday when the government team did not present the new wage figures at the tripartite committee meeting. Despite this, Thursday’s meeting suggested progress. Minister Edun, speaking to the press afterwards, stated, “There is no cause for alarm,” hinting that they are moving closer to finalizing the wage proposal.
Although it’s not confirmed if the new wage figures were formally presented to President Tinubu, sources suggest the meeting likely discussed the financial implications of the proposed wage adjustments, especially following recent consultations with a World Bank team.
A source from The Nation speculated, “It looks like it because they held a separate meeting after the visit of the World Bank team and from all available indications, the next thing on the table that the Finance Minister should be discussing with the President should be the submission of the figures as instructed by the President.
“He was clear when he instructed on Tuesday, he said either that day or the next day, which was yesterday, Wednesday. So from what I can deduce, he must have submitted his report. Let’s just wait to hear details later.”
The outcome of these discussions is highly anticipated, as establishing a new minimum wage is crucial for both the government and labor unions, affecting millions of workers across Nigeria.
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