Festus Osifo, President, Trade Union Congress, in an interview with Arise Television, indicated that where they thought the conversation for the minimum wage would start is from ₦77,000 and above.
During the interview, he said, “We went to the meeting, and from the federal government, they read the sum of ₦54,000 naira and that it was their new offer, but from us, we told them clearly that one of the reasons that we walked out the last time was that ₦48,000 for us was ridiculous.
A screenshot of Festus Osifo from a video clip released by Arise Television on their official X handle
Regarding their experience during the former President Buhari regime, he said that “the last minimum wage became an act sometimes in 2019, and then after that, in 2019, former President Buhari made some adjustments before he left office by bringing a kind of cost of living allowance adjustment, so he added like 40 percent to it. By the time that you add that 40 percent to the ₦30,000, that’s about ₦42,000.
He further added that “If you could remember last year we had the issue of wage award that came in, and if you look at that document, what we said was that the wage award of ₦35,000 will subsist until a new minimum wage is put in place, and by the time you add ₦35,000 to ₦42,000, it’s already ₦77,000. What that means is that the lowest worker today in the federal government earns about ₦77,000, so we told them our expectations were that the floor for conversations would be that ₦77,000, and then you would add something to it, and then we would start the conversation from there. That was why, when they presented the ₦ 48,000, we said no….S££ MOR£
Meet Carlos Rodriguez, Who Had A Part Of His Skúll Removed And Here Is Why