Tinubu may announce new minimum wage figures today

There are strong indications that the long awaited national minimum wage may be an­nounced today, Thursday, when the meeting between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the or­ganised labour, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) resumes at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Recall that President Tinubu had last week summoned leaders of both unions to a meeting in the Villa, where all parties involved in the minimum wage negotiations stated their own opinions regard­ing the matter.

While the Federal Govern­ment has insisted it was not averse to an increase in the na­tional minimum wage for work­ers in the country, it had proposed to pay N62,000, hinging it on fears not to cause further spike in infla­tionary trend.

But the organised labour has also insisted that it would make do with N250,000 as minimum wage owing to the prevailing economic realities in the country.

Last week’s meeting that was adjourned to today had provided Tinubu an opportunity to glean the views of labour and also to appeal to the conscience of the workers regarding the resources available to pay the wages.

Recall also that at the previ­ous meeting in the Villa, Tinubu was reported to have mooted the idea that minimum wage review should not necessarily be once in five years, rather it could be done every two or three years, partic­ularly as it leads to unnecessary controversies once the timeframe becomes too lengthy.

Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka On­yejiocha, had described the previ­ous meeting as fruitful as it was more or less a family discussion between a father and the children.

But President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, said all parties bared their minds on the way to go regarding the new wage policy which gov­ernment must adopt.

Asked whether they deliberat­ed on the N250,000 being demand­ed by labour, the NLC President replied, “I remember mentioning that we didn’t go into naira and kobo discussion. Now the status quo in terms of the amount, N250,000, and N62,000 remains until we finish this conversation”.

TinubuWritesSenateToIncrease2024 Budget By N6.2trn

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday asked the Senate to amend the Appropria­tion Act, 2024, to allow for an in­crease in the capital expenditure to the tune of N3.2 trillion, and an increase in recurrent expen­diture of N3 trillion.

Both drawals are to emanate from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the federation and are expected to stretch to December 31, 2024.

This followed the presentation of a bill to that effect by the Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele (APC: Ekiti Central).

Both bills passed second read­ing at plenary.

Similarly, the red chamber has also passed the bill for an Act to amend the Finance Act, 2023 to impose and charge windfall tax on banks and provide for the ad­ministration of the tax for second reading.

Senator Bamidele explained that the bill, especially the first one, became necessary because of the new minimum wage for workers and the Renewed Hope legacy projects of President Bola Tinubu, which were not con­tained in the 2024 budget.

Supporting the bill, Senator Adamu Aliero (PDP: Kebbi Cen­tral) said approvin g the piece of legislation would help the president to address the issue of minimum wage and start the implementation of some critical projects like the Lagos-Calabar coastal and the Badagry-Sokoto road projects.

On his own, Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP: Bayelsa West) argued that the two bills are not the same and should therefore be treated separately.

According to him, the first one is an amendment to the 2024 Appro­priation Act while the second is on taxation and growth of the nation’s economy, adding, however, that “we should be very cautious while im­posing taxes on the people who are facing a depressed economy.”

President Tinubu had through a letter requested the Senate to amend the 2024 Appropriation Act and the 2023 Finance Act by increasing the budget by N6.2 trillion.

Tinubu, in the letter addressed to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and read at the beginning of plenary, said the move was pursuant to Section 58, sub-section 2 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nige­ria 1999 as amended.

The letter reads in part: “I for­ward herewith the above bills for con­sideration and passage by the Senate.

“The Appropriation Act Amendment Bill 2024 seeks to amend the principal act to pro­vide the sum of N3.2 trillion for Renewed Hope infrastructure projects and other critical infra­structure projects to be undertak­en across the country.

“And the sum of N3 trillion to meet further recurrent expen­diture requirements, necessary for the proper operation by the Federal Government expendi­ture, which are to be funded by expected revenue accruing to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

According to the president, the proposed amendment to the Finance Act 2023 was required to impose a one-time windfall tax on the foreign exchange gains real­ised by banks in their 2023 finan­cial statements.

He explained that this was to fund capital infrastructure development, education, health­care access, and public welfare initiatives, adding that “all of the projects are essential components of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the administration.”

Tinubu Appoints New Head Of Service

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack as Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

According to Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, the appoint­ment takes effect from August 14, 2024.

Mrs. Walson-Jack was ap­pointed as Federal Permanent Secretary in 2017 and has served in several ministries.

The new appointee will take over from the incumbent Head of the Civil Service of the Federa­tion, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, who is due to retire on August 13, 2024.

“President Tinubu, while thank­ing the outgoing Head of Service for her stewardship, tasks the incom­ing Head of Service to discharge her duties with innovative flair, in­tegrity, and stringent adherence to the extant rules and regulations of the Civil Service of the Federation,” the statement reads.

Source: Independent.ng