The Federal Government has appealed to labour unions to return to negotiations with the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who made the appeal in Abuja on Monday, said the government is desirous of peaceful outcome and will do everything to make it happen.
Expressing the government’s readiness to arrive at an agreement with the labour, Idris highlighted National Assembly leadership’s meeting with the labour leadership on Sunday and another dialogue on Monday.
He emphasised the need to strike a measured and realistic balance in the effort to arrive at a new minimum wage for Nigerians.
According to the minister, labour’s current proposal of N494,000 is an increase of 1,547 percent on the existing wage and translates into an annual wage bill of 9.5 trillion Naira for the Federal Government of Nigeria alone.
He said that apart from its cost implications for sub-nationals and the private sector, such a wage bill would cripple the Nigerian economy.
Idris pointed out that the National Consumer Credit Scheme and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) are additional significant demonstrations of government’s determination to bring relief to the people of Nigeria.
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