Buhari inaugurates another committee on minimum wage

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja inaugurated a Technical Advisory Committee on the implementation of the proposed new national minimum wage.

According to the President, the committee, to be chaired by an Economist and Financial Expert, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, will among other things “develop, and advise government on how to successfully bring about a smooth implementation of impending wage increases.”

He said given the urgency, that the committee is expected to complete its deliberations and submit its report and recommendations within one month today.

Recall that President Buhari had last year inaugurated a Tripartite Committee which recommended N30, 000 new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

The report had remained with the President without any concrete action taken for its implementation. The development saw Labour Union and its members embark on a nationwide protest on Monday, demanding that the President send the new minimum wage to the National Assembly for approval.

Speaking during the inauguration of the committee, Buhari said given the urgency of this exercise, the Committee is expected to complete its deliberations and submit its report and recommendations within one month from today.

“We must therefore look at ways of implementing these consequential wage adjustments in a manner that does not have adverse effects on our national development plans, as laid out in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). The ERGP sets appropriate targets for levels of Capital Expenditure, Public Debt, Inflation, Employment, etc. It is absolutely important that the implementation of a new minimum wage does not adversely affect these targets, and thereby erode the envisaged gains for the workers.

“It is against this background that I have set up a Technical Committee to advise government on how best to fund, in a sustained manner, the additional costs that will arise from the implementation of the consequential increases in salaries and allowances for workers currently earning above the new minimum wage.”

National Daily gathered that the terms of reference of the new committee include: developing and advising government on how to successfully bring about a smooth implementation of impending wage increases; Identify new revenue sources, as well as areas of existing expenditure from where some savings could be made in order to fund the wage increases without adversely impacting the nation’s development goals as set out in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.

The committee is also expected to propose a work plan and modalities for the implementation of the salary increases as well as any other suggestions that will assist in the implementation of this, and future wage increases.