BY PATRICK MGBODO/CHIKA KWAMBA
The Delta State Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Martin Bolum has expressed confidence that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori would pay the proposed N70,000 Minimum Wage to workers in the state.
Comrade Bolum, who disclosed this to The Pointer in a telephone conversation, allayed fears that the governor might not be willing to pay the new Minimum Wage, following an earlier protest by the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).
According to Comrade Bolum, ‘’Labour had earlier asked for N250, 000 but that does not mean that it must be N250,000. We looked at all the parameters and that was why we disagreed with the other members of the tripartite committee. We filed our disagreement to the President and it was left for him to decide what to send to the National Assembly.
‘’As we speak, the President is proposing N70,000 which labour agreed. What they (FG) had in mind originally was N54,000 but labour dragged it to N60,000. The last time they (labour) met with the President, we insisted that the government must come up higher with their offering.
‘’After putting all indices together, the President then proposed N70,000. I think that figure is ok, representing a 135 per cent increase. But that’s not the only thing the President is offering. He is offering N70,000 to be tried for three years instead of five years.
Bolum continued, ‘’The rumour that the Governor will only pay N68,000 is completely untrue. Governor Oborevwori is ready to pay whatever is approved. He was not one of the governors who said they could not pay.
‘’We are confident Governor Oborevwori will pay the N70,000 Minimum Wage; He is a people’s governor. We had earlier discussed with him and he told us that as soon as it (negotiations) are concluded, he will look for how to go about it. So, we do not expect him not to pay.
‘’Meanwhile, it is a matter of law. Once the Minimum Wage is signed into law, every governor must pay. Part of the discussions with the President was that the president would handle the governors to make sure that everybody pays. It is a law and if you refuse to pay, you will be disobeying the law. But I do not think we will have any challenge with the Delta State Government’’ Bolum said.
Recall that the Minister of Information, Mohammad Idris said the N70,000 Minimum Wage agreement was reached at a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress.
The development signalled an end to the lingering debate over a suitable wage for Nigerian workers.
