Wabba urges Buhari to ‘immediately transmit Minimum Wage Bill’ to NASS, calls for Ngige’s sack

Organised labour on Tuesday in Abuja, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately transmit the new National Minimum Wage Bill to the National Assembly.
Mr Ayuba Wabba, President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), made the call at a protest rally.
National Executive Council of NLC had threatened to embark on a nationwide protest on January 8, if the Federal Government fails to send the Tripartite Committee Report on N30,000 Minimum Wage to NASS.
The organiseed labour gave the ultimatum, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that a “high powered technical committee,” would be set up to device ways to ensure that its implementation did not lead to an increase in the level of borrowing.
Wabba said the protest rally served as a warning to the Federal Government before a nationwide strike if government continued to delay the transmission of the Minimum Wage Bill to the National Assembly.
According to Wabba, workers welfare and well being must be paramount, that was why we insist “this rally must take place across the length and breadth of the country.
“Today in every government house in Nigeria, the protest is taking place, and here we are in the office of the Minister of the FCT.
“We want to say that workers are very central to economic development and very central to the prosperity of any country and therefore we cannot be described as the tiny minority.
“Workers are very productive, we built the Nigerian economy, we fought for democracy, rule of law and good governance and there is no way we can be described as tiny minority, as we service the entire country.
“So, workers must be able to take care of their families, send their children to school, but today, workers are not able to feed three times a day or send their children to school.
“Because minimum wage of N18,000 is no longer realistic to take care of workers’ needs,’’ he said.
Wabba said that N30,000 was agreed on, adding that Nigerian economy is capable of sustaining the new minimum wage.
“We are here to submit our letter of protest and demand like our states councils are doing in their various states right now, to the FCTA Minister for onward transmission to Mr President.
“We want to call on Mr President for the onward transmission of the bill to the National Assembly as the protest rally served as a warning before a nationwide strike,’’ he said.
Mr Amechi Asugwah, the President, Construction and Wood Workers Union of Nigeria, decried government’s posture towards the implementation of the national minimum wage.
He said that workers decided to take the action, because they “ have waited more than enough, and we are running out of patience.
“As a matter of fact, we do not need to serve another notice before embarking on a nationwide strike.
“We have decided to take strong action to drive the issue of the minimum wage as it concerns workers in the country, “he added.
Mr Lazarus Gaza, Head of Human Resources in the FCTA, who received the protest letter from the NLC president, assured that the letter would be delivered accordingly.
Sen. Shehu Sani, who represents Kaduna Central, said he was there to lend his support for the struggle for the new national minimum wage.
Wabba also called for the removal of Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige.
Wabba, represented by Comrade Kiri Mohammed, made the call in Kano during a protest on the implementation of the minimum wage.
“The minister abandoned his responsibilities during the Tripartite Committee meeting with the NLC to travel abroad for a two-week holiday. And after his return, he demanded for the committee to start work all over again,” he said.
Wabba accused some governors of sabotaging the planned implementation of the N30,000 new minimum wage in the country.
Commending the courage of Buhari for accepting the N30, 000 minimum wage, Wabba called for the immediate submission of the tripartite committee’s report to the National Assembly.
“The decision to embark on the nationwide protest is our last resort for those who have mistaken our patience for weakness.
“There is no going back on our current position until the new national minimum wage of N30,000 is transmitted by the President to the National Assembly for implementation by all tiers of government in the county,” he said.
The Kano State NLC Chairman, Alhaji Kabiru Minjibir said the aim of the protest was to enlighten workers on the implication of non-implementation of the minimum wage by state governors.
According to him, the protest will take them to the Kano Government House to present their request to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje to convince his colleagues to implement the minimum wage.
Minjibir, commended the governor for accepting to pay the N30, 000 minimum wage, with an addition of N600.