the 142nd meeting of the national economic council nec chaired by the vice president kashim shettima at the presidential villa abuja yesterday

FG, Govs silent on Minimum Wage

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu and governors of the 36 states of the federation yesterday kept quiet on the issue of minimum wage after a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC).

Millions of Nigerians and members of the organised labour had expected that the federal government and the states would take a position on the matter, which has dragged since the removal of fuel subsidy on May 29, 2023, the day Tinubu took over power, and the expiration of the N30,000 minimum wage agreed on in 2019.

The NEC meeting, statutorily chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, was attended by President Tinubu, a development that raised the hope of keen watchers of the development that there was the likelihood that the threshold of the new minimum wage expected will be put to rest.

It would be recalled that the 37-member Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage, led by a former Head of Service of the Federation, Bukar Aji, had submitted its report to President Tinubu weeks ago, after about five months of sittings.

After the NEC meeting held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday, there was no mention of minimum wage as governors who briefed the press did not entertain questions.

Instead, President Tinubu approved a โ€˜one-offโ€™ allocation to states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of N10 billion for the procurement of buses and CNG โ€œuplift programmeโ€.

This was part of a new intervention tagged โ€œNational Construction and Household Support Programmeโ€.

In a statement, presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said the programme includes the โ€œDelivery of N50,000 uplift grants each to 100,000 families per state for three months, and provision for labour unions and civil society organisations.

According to him, there would be โ€œDeployment of N155 billion for the purchase and sale of assorted foodstuff to be distributed across the nationโ€.

The statement said the programme was expected to boost agricultural productivity, strengthen the economy by creating opportunities in the real sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, and construction, as well as provide urgent economic relief for Nigerians.

It said road infrastructure projects, such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which is underway, and the Trans-Saharan Highway, which links Enugu, Abakaliki, Ogoja, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, and Abuja, would be prioritised.

President Tinubu also approved full counterpart financing for Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Railway; to traverse Rivers, Abia, Enugu, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno states, as well as for the Ibadan-Abuja segment of the Lagos-Kano Standard-Gauge Railway; which will traverse Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Niger, Abuja, Kaduna, and Kano.

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