BABAJIDE OKEOWO
The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for assenting to the N30, 000 new national Minimum Wage Bill last week and demanded that he should ensure its implementation without delay.
President Buhari’s assent followed the earlier approval by the two chambers of the National Assembly.
The Director-General, NECA, Mr. Timothy Olawale, gave this commendation and made the demand recently in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Olawale, who noted that N30, 000 was the minimum wage, however, appealed to those employers already paying above N30, 000 as their minimum wage to continue to pay such, and not review it downward. He said the approval by the President indicated his passion and concern for the welfare of the masses and the workers in particular.
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“Organised businesses wish to commend the President for promptly attending to the National Minimum Wage Bill as sent to him by the National Assembly. It is an indication of the passion and concern of the President for the welfare of the masses and working class in particular. We believe that the implementation date will be the date of assent” he said.
“The National Minimum Wage is not a general salary increase but a wage below which no employer should pay. As such, employers who are already paying above N30, 000 are not obligated to comply. In the same vein, we expect other social partners to also respect this understanding, so as not to jeopardise the industrial harmony in the private sector by insisting on implementation by organisations already paying above N30, 000” he said