FG/Labour meeting: Tinubu’s N25,000 provisional wage increase, N5,000 for vulnerable Nigerians rejected

The N25,000 provisional wage increment announced for average low-grade workers in the federal civil service by President Bola Tinubu on October 1 has been rejected by the organized labour.

Also rejected is the cash transfer to an additional 15 million vulnerable households under social safety programme and demanded that the N5,000 payable to the poor should be increased to N25,000.

Persecondnews gathered that labor leaders, who are attending a meeting with the Federal Government team at the Permanent Conference Room, Presidential Villa, Abuja, rejected the N25, 000 wage and demanded 100 percent increase of the current minimum wage of N30, 000.

In his broadcast to the nation on Sunday in commemoration of Nigeria’s 63rd independence anniversary, Tinubu had claimed that the N25,000 wage increase was based on talks with labour, business and other stakeholders in the country.

He had said: “We are introducing a provisional wage increment to enhance the federal minimum wage without causing undue inflation. For the next six months, the average low-grade worker shall receive an additional Twenty-Five Thousand naira per month.

“Commencing this month, the social safety net is being extended through the expansion of cash transfer programs to an additional 15 million vulnerable households.”

The labour leaders demanded that the government should pay “temporary salary” to workers for the next six months pending when the new minimum wage would be approved.

Sources at the meeting also said the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Simon Lalong and the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, stormed out of the venue to consult with Tinubu on labour’s demands.