Governors have no right to reduce N18,000 mininum wage

ABUJA — THE Federal Government said, yesterday, that the governors have no legitimate right to reduce the national minimum wage from the present N18, 000 because it was a product of agreement.

President Buhari

This came on the heels of the rejection by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, of the recent proposal to remove fuel subsidy in 2016, the increment in the electricity tariff and the proposed re-introduction of toll gates on the federal roads.

Warning against any plan to reduce the minimum wage at the meeting with the leadership of NLC, Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said the governors were only playing politics with the issue of minimum wage.

Ngige said instead of contemplating to reduce the minimum wage, the government would want workers to be paid higher when the economy improves.

The minister, however, blamed the organised labour for allegedly heating up the system by joining issues with the governors in talking about reduction or increment in minimum wage.

According to him, “when the NLC joined the governors in talking about minimum wage, with the governors saying we can’t pay N18,000 minimum wage and NLC says it is time for us to ask for increase, we now know that these are talks that are heating up the system.

“The NLC knows better that the governors are playing politics. This is one matter that you cannot play politics with because it is a matter of rule of law. The law in place now is the Minimum Wage Act enacted by the National Assembly and the National Assembly derived their power from the Exclusive List of the constitution which gives them power to make laws on labour related matters including minimum wage.

“So, anybody who wants to talk about minimum wage should go to the National Assembly or ask the President to send an executive bill which can be discussed and it will be a tripatite discussion, involving public hearing.

“Please let a sleeping dog lie, because this country is going through a very difficult time now and requires your prayers and support. Nobody can reduce wages now. If anything, if you have more money, you pay higher.

 

On corruption, unemployment

“The third thing which is also one of the pillars of government is the fight against corruption. Corruption has eaten so deep into the fabric of the Nigerian system that if you are not corrupt, you look abnormal.

“The labour laws need some tinkering because some of them are very old. Even the penalty that are prescribed in them are very old. You see some laws which says that if people abuse expatriate quota, they pay a fine of N2000. It doesn’t make sense.

“As a ministry, we will look at all these laws and with the Attorney General of the Federation, we will make sure that we fast track some of these laws so that the necessary penalties that are commensurate with labour offences committed are meted out to the offending parties. We will be needing your input.

“We want to reinvigorate our laws and give the Nigerian workers a decent work environment as prescribed by the ILO conventions.”

He emphasised the commitment of government to employment generation, adding that the government was aware that unemployment is the easiest gateway to instability and insecurity.

He said that the government, in a bid to show the seriousness of empowering the youths, has budgeted N500 billion to address the issue of unemployment, and poverty alleviation.

 

NLC kicks against removal of fuel subsidy

Speaking at the occasion, the Ayuba Wabba-led faction of NLC, said the national interest had always been the driving force of the congress.

Comrade Wabba stressed the need for the government to respect collective bargaining process and commended the intervention of the minister on the issue of outsourcing of jobs and casualisation.

He stated that Nigerian workers should not be treated like slaves in their country.

At the emergency Central Working Committee meeting at the Labour House, the organised labour said the recent proposed removal oil subsidy was an attempt to punish the masses and that the labour would resist it.

He expressed the fears that the pump price of petroleum product could be increased by 2016 instead of being reduced because of the fall in the international market, adding that he would mobilise the workers to resist any increase.

Wabba also advised the government to put the refineries in place instead of refining the product outside the country.

 

On electricity tariff

He said labour opposes the recent plan to increase electricity tariff, adding that the issue of other charges outside the consumption charges was abnormal.

He said the removal of fixed charges on electricity tariff was long over due as according to him, the masses were paying for services that were not provided.

“We want pre-paid metre and not this estimation bill. People should pay for what they consumed,” he said, adding that the process of privatisation had not delivered any result, “all of us had been deceived.”

NLC also backed the planned strike by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, over the removal of staff of universities staff schools from the government pay roll.

He said, SSANU as an affiliate of NLC, has the right to make demands and that the position of SSANU was the position of NLC.

Governors have no right to reduce N18,000 mininum wage

N18,000 minimum wage must be re-negotiated - NGF Chairman

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari yesterday said governors, the Presidency and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) should re-negotiate the 18,000 minimum wage.

Governor Abdulaziz Yari

He spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to him, dwindling oil prices had drastically affected the revenue generation of most states, which is adversely affecting their ability to pay workers.

The governor, however, denied making statements stopping the minimum wage.

He said: “Let me make it clear to Nigerians, Governors’ Forum is not the enemy of labour. Rather, we have been working together. But what we are saying, because not only Governor Wike but also my friend in the comradeship, Adams Oshiomhole, kicked against the decision.

“Although we never said that we are going to stop the N18,000 minimum wage, we are looking at the situation in the country and the global economy.

“What we said is that when the National Assembly enacted the law of paying N18,000 minimum wage, oil was about $118 per barrel and today oil is sold for $41 per barrel.

“So, if it continues, definitely, we will find it difficult to continue. We have to sit down with labour and see how we can review, either continue or downsizing or what we are going to do. We want to find a solution because we have to be realistic that we have so many things to touch. There is infrastructure deficit, there is need for security, there are other things, such as social lives of our people and the nation as a state.

“The receipt from federation account, some people received N400 million, N500 million. Some others received N55 million, two digits. And there are other issues.  Not even the salary, their pension is over a billion. So, how can we continue borrowing and servicing the service aspect of our expenditure, or overhead? How can we do that?

“We are telling the public that we are planning to sit down with the President and his team and the governors as a team and the experts to come out with the way forward and how we are going to handle the poor state of the economy.

“But what we have on ground now will not be realistic if it continues the way it is without having other sources from the economy and still relying on oil that is being sold for $118 dollar per barrel and now down to $41 and think that we can continue behaving or misbehaving the way we are doing, if there is anything like that.

“Therefore we are saying that we should tighten our belts. Sometime definitely, we should sit down and come out of it to find a way we are going to do it realistically or otherwise.”

On the position taken by Governors Adams Oshiomole and Nyesom Wike of Edo and Rivers states, Yari said the states were rich with industries that are raising their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

He said: “I can understand why the governor of Rivers state is speaking the way he is speaking. He thinks every place is Rivers. It is not.”

N18,000 minimum wage must be re-negotiated - NGF Chairman

N18,000 minimum wage: Prepare for war, NLC warns govs

LAGOS — THE Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday warned that attempts by the governors through the Governors’ Forum to renege on the N18,000 national minimum wage signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan in March 2011, was an open declaration of war against the Nigerian workers.

Deputy President, Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Issa Aremu (NLC)

Congress equally told President Muhammadu Buhari to prepare to receive the proposal for the review of the minimum wage as contained in the agreement, noting that the proposal was delayed because the NLC wanted to give the government time to settle down before coming up with the demand.

While insisting that the ability to pay even above the wage was not the problem of the economy, NLC recalled that the 2011 national minimum wage came into existence after almost two years of agitation and eventual negotiation by the tripartite of government (represented by the federal and state governments), the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, representing other employers (in the private sector) and organized Labour.

NLC, in a statement by its factional President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, told the governors to prepare for war and organised labour would have no alternative than to mobilize to respond appropriately to this act of aggression by the political class on workers’ welfare.

The statement read in part: “The Nigeria Labour Congress is shocked by the statement credited to the chairman of the Governors Forum, Governor Abdulaziz Yari, that the N18,000 national minimum wage promulgated into law in 2011 was no longer sustainable because of the fall in the price of crude oil. The governor, who was speaking on behalf of his colleagues at the end of a meeting of the forum, also claimed that the national minimum wage was ‘imposed’.

“We wish to make it abundantly clear that this attempt to reverse the national minimum wage is a declaration of war against the working people of this country, and we would have no alternative than to mobilize to respond to this act of aggression by the political class on our welfare.

“For us in the Nigeria Labour Congress, we know as a fact that ability to pay minimum wages is not the problem of the economy. What is the problem for states and other tiers of government is the amount many political office holders and their unproductive aides take away as wages. For the private sector, the greed to accumulate more and more profit is also always a motivating factor to keep wages down.

“Similarly, we have been in the forefront of campaigning that the cost of governance at all levels needs to be drastically cut down, to free enough resources for development. The hundreds of billions of Naira our public office holders continue to filter away in the name of governance is what is not sustainable.

“For instance, the annual cost to the public purse of governors ‘security votes’ which is an unaccountable drain on the public resources, is worth several thousands of minimum wages per state. Secondly, Nigerians who have the means to travel by air would recall that in the last 6-10 years, majority of, if not all our governors, no longer use commercial airline regular flights as a means of transportation from one place to another. They now have ‘official’ aircrafts and helicopters, which they maintain at huge costs to the state treasury.

“Their less ‘fortunate’ counterparts charter aircrafts and helicopters at the cost of millions of Naira to tax payers to attend any manner of functions from marriages to child naming ceremonies.

“States are in the poor financial state they are in largely on the developmental choices they have made; largely on the basis of priorities they have chosen which has nothing to do with the public good. Workers salaries cannot be sacrificed on the altar of challenges of the economy which is not the making of workers. It has never happened in the history of our country, and it will not be said that it is during our leadership of the Nigerian labour movement that this calamity was allowed to happen to Nigerian workers.

“Governors and other political office holders were not elected and/or appointed to only go and share proceeds from crude oil and petroleum products sales monthly in Abuja. Any one putting himself or herself out to serve does so on the assumption that he or she have intellect above the average which would be leveraged to provide good and responsive governance to the rest of the populace.

“In the 60’s when Nigeria did not have oil as the main source of our revenue, our fore bearers raised funds via efficient taxes, agricultural produce and other forms of internally generated revenue to provide development and pay living wages to the workers. Our current crop of leaders, who put themselves up for election to high government positions, must deliver by paying the working masses their due pay. This is not negotiable.

“As early as May 2015, we gave notice that the N18,000 National Minimum Wage was due for review, and that we would be submitting a new proposal once the incoming government settled down. We have been patient and waited for the President Buhari government to appoint ministers and thus have full compliments of officers to run the government.

“With the recent devaluation of the Naira, and the attendant increase in inflation and cost of living, even without the last minimum wage Act reaching the mandatory five years when it is due for review, we would have been justified to request for review.

“Now the five years is here – we are at the end of 2015, and with the cost of living being so high, we will soon table our new minimum wage demand to the federal government. If the recent statement by the Governors Forum is intended to manoeuvre them away from addressing this imperative, then it is bound to fail as we are ready to do battle to raise the living standard of the Nigerian working people.”

N18,000 minimum wage: Prepare for war, NLC warns govs

Minimum Wage: Oshiomhole washes hands off governors" decision

You must pay, he tells his colleagues

Says democracy can’t be run at govs’ comfort

Wabba, Ajaero factions unite to fight workers’ course

Reduce your pay by 50%, Ango Abdullahi tells govs

BY SONI DANIEL & JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, yesterday, disagreed with other governors of the country on the ability of the states to pay the N18,000 minimum wage, saying they must pay.

Governor Oshiomhole

Recalling that the minimum wage was agreed between the Federal Government and the organised labour by the previous administration, Oshiomhole told the governors and other elected political office holders that democracy cannot be run at their comfort and convenience.

Oshiomhole spoke as the leader of the Northern Elders’ Forum, Prof Ango Abdullahi, blasted governors for claiming that they are broke and can no longer pay workers the minimum wage and as factional presidents of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrades Ayuba Wabba and Joe Ajaero,yesterday, attended the first Central Working Committee ,CWC, meeting organised by labour veterans and stakeholders to resolve the crisis that brought division among labour leaders after its election about six months ago.

Democracy can’t be run at govs, others’ comfort

Speaking at the meeting held at the Labour House, Abuja, Governor Oshiomhole said nobody would question the wisdom behind the payment of minimum wage to workers in the country as it was not imposed on the government, rather it was a product of agreement between government and labour.

His words: “I am a labour man, I have been clear with my colleagues in seeking to find solution to the problem we face. We have to be holistic, we cannot at one hand question the wisdom behind the national minimum wage. I joined the NLC to protest to the National Assembly when they were going to amend the constitution to make the minimum wage a concurrent issue.

“I said workers have a stake in this democracy. They are the ones who could afford to march the streets and they march the streets for democracy. Democracy doesn’t have to run at the comfort or convenience of governors, ministers, and presidents.

“I believe that the issue in the economy hasn’t got to do with minimum wage. I have always also reminded my colleagues that the minimum wage was not imposed, it was negotiated and state governments agreed to it, the president signed it not under duress, there was no strike to compel the then president to sign it, he signed it voluntarily.

“I believe when you look at the minimum wage, as it is today at N18,000, it is less than 100 dollars. I think it is now about eighty dollars. Now, divide eighty dollars by 31 days, you will be getting about two point something dollars.

“Now we cannot argue that workers in Nigeria formal sector should not earn more than two dollars a day, I cannot subscribe to that because the heart of governance is the welfare of the people.”

Economic challenges not enough to reduce workers’ pay

Noting that there were some economic challenges confronting the country, he said it was not enough for governors to start to tamper with an agreement the organised labour entered with government.

“Let me also say that I acknowledge that there are huge issues with the economy, there are huge issues about management capacity and I have been loud about the massive abuse and the looting of our common patrimony. My only complain is that the NLC voice was not loud when it matters, when the looting was going on, there was what I can call a criminal silence by the NLC. When the CBN governor raised the alarm, the NLC would have risen as a partner and I have always warned that the consequences of what the big people would do, will always fall on the small people.

“It is NLC business to interrogate every policy that will have immediate or long time consequences. What we have now is the medium term consequences of the massive looting and the gross mismanagement of our economy at the time when the oil peaked at $108, now at under $50, we are suffering a huge drop of 50 percent of national revenue and with a huge debt profile.

“So, on the one hand, you are looking for huge resources to settle debts incurred even in the midst of plenty and having to grapple with basic needs at the moment when oil prices have crashed. For me even if you abolish wages, it will not automatically translate to solutions.”

Wabba, Ajaero speak, vow to ask for pay raise

Also speaking after the CWC meeting, Comrade Wabba rejected the governors position, saying: ”We reject in its entirety, Nigerian workers will not take it lightly. We are not the problem, rather we are the solution. The problem is that they have not been able to reduce the cost of governance. They should go and reduce their security votes. Let them also cut down on the number of their entourages. They must also be accountable to the citizens that voted them into power. We are going to resist any attempt to tamper with the payment under any guise.

“Let them also note that the N18,000 was not allocated, it was negotiated through a tripartite process and it is a product of law that is even due for review. We are going to champion the review.

“Let us also put them on notice, if attempt is made to reduce, review or do anything outside the legal minimum of N18,000, which cannot even take us home, we are going to resist it. Nigerian workers will be mobilise to resist.”

On his part, Ajaero, who also said that efforts had gone far to resolve the crisis in the union, also noted that the organised labour would not allow the governors to toil with the welfare of workers.

He said that NLC would ensure that the governors comply with the agreement entered into with government even as he acknowledged that with more efforts in the process of resolving the crisis in NLC, they will be able to consummate their discussion.

Apologise to workers, reduce your pay by 50%, Ango Abdullahi tells govs

Backing the workers, Prof Ango Abdullahi asked any of the governors who cannot pay the minimum wage to resign and pave the way for those who can do so in the interest of Nigerian workers.

In a chat with Saturday Vanguard, yesterday, Prof Abdullahi described the governors’ claim as irresponsible, insensitive, embarrassing and unacceptable to Nigerians given the huge amount they and their retinue of aides pocket monthly.

The former Ahmadu Bello University Vice Chancellor noted with displeasure that governors, who were taking billions of Naira monthly under the guise of security votes, which they don’t account for, could wickedly refuse to pay their workers a worthless minimum wage of N18,000 monthly.

He said any governor who does not resign but continues to stay in office while claiming inability to pay the minimum wage should not be taken seriously by the Nigerian workers.

“If certain political appointees of the governors take home at N1 million monthly, how can the same governors not be able to pay as little as N18,000 to each worker who works daily for the state?” he asked.

Abdullahi, who was Obasanjo’s Special Adviser on Food Security, asked the 36 governors to reduce their earnings by 50 percent so as to leave more money available for their states.

Minimum Wage: Oshiomhole washes hands off governors" decision