Minimum Wage: Be Patient With Tinubu, Presidency Pleads

The Presidency on Monday appealed to Nigerians not to pile unnecessary pressure on President Bola Tinubu, assuring that he would transmit the proposed bill on the new minimum wage to the National Assembly once it is ready.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the plea in a phone chat with The PUNCH.

The assurance comes barely 24 hours after the Organised Labour urged the President to consider consulting and reaching an agreement with its leadership before transmitting the bill to the National Assembly.

The workers’ union admitted that their much anticipated meeting of the National Executive Committee, which will accommodate about 300 Labour leaders, is being stalled by Tinubu’s delay to transmit the wage bill.

The last time the NLC and the TUC held a joint extraordinary National Executive Council was on June 4.

It was an emergency meeting to determine whether to continue its strike or shelve it following the agreement they reached with the government.

The President had announced in his Democracy Day broadcast that a consensus had been reached between the Federal Government and Labour on the new wage, a claim both the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress debunked.

A month after his speech, Tinubu left the camp of Labour and Nigerians waited in anxiety on what the FG was up to.

Reacting, Onanuga wondered what the rush for the transmission of the bill was all about.

While admitting that he had no knowledge of the date for submission, the presidential aide pleaded for more time.

“People should be patient,” he stated.

His appeal comes one week after he reiterated that the N250,000 wage being demanded by the workers’ union is unsustainable, warning that the Federal Government cannot channeled all its resources to meet such demand.