President Muhammadu Buhari has accepted the N30,000 minimum wage agreed by the committee on National minimum wage. The bill when passed will set the minimum wage at N30,000. The President gave the approval shortly after the report of the committee was presented to him. The President promised to forward new minimum wage bill to National Assembly for action. An Act of parliament is needed to give effect to the new minimum wage. The National Assembly has said it will action the bill as soon as possible.
The President urged Nigerian workers against being used as political weapons. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Kwara Chapter, has appealed to Kwara Government, to approve the national minimum pension for pensioners in the state and 16 Local Government councils, to improve their well-being. The union made the plea in Ilorin on Tuesday in a statement signed by the Chairman, Alhaji Saidu Iladimeji, and the Secretary, Mr Samuel lbidoja. According to the statement several Pensioners from the state and local government service, who still receive monthly pensions as low as N4,000 are finding it difficult to survive with their families.
The statement said the union was backing the current demand of N30,000 minimum wage by organised labour. The union in the statement expressed optimism that the N30,000 minimum wage when approved and implemented would no doubt have positive effect on the lives of pensioners in the state. According to the Union, the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states that “pension shall be reviewed every five years or together with any Federal Civil Service salary reviews. The statement said that the last pension salary was reviewed in July 2010 in Kwara, the situation it said brought untold hardship on several pensioners in the state. The statement also appealed to Local Government Pensions Board to implement the 20 per cent salary increase harmonisation of year 2010 for affected pensioners, who retired from the 16 Local Government councils in the state.
