Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, has has submitted the cost implications of the new minimum wage to President Bola Tinubu as directed and presented a new minimum wage template to the President meeting the 48-hour deadline. The new proposal suggests a minimum wage of N105,000 per month for Nigerian workers. The president had on Tuesday directed Edun to prepare an estimate of the financial cost of the new minimum wage to the government and present it to him within 48 hours. The minister made the presentation to the president during a meeting with Atiku Bagudu the Minister for Budget and Economic Planning at the State House.
In a sharp reaction the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga debunked the figure of the new minimum wage . The Presidency clarified that, “the Honorable Minister of Finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Wale Edun has not proposed N105,000 minimum wage. Onanuga, however, justified in true light that, “the story being disseminated by media outlets is false.” Earlier, On Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu charged Edun to present a budgetary proposal on new minimum wage figure and analysis within 48 hours. Responding to the formal directive, The Minister of Finance, Wale Edun accompanied by the Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National orientation, and Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and National Planning submitted the report to Tinubu on Thursday at the presidential villa, Abuja. The actual/accurate figure will be disclosed Officially by the Presidency.
Speaking to journalists after his presentation, Edun simply said “There is no cause for alarm.” A reliable source at the presidency said: “It looks like it because they held a separate meeting after the visit of the World Bank team and from all available indications, the next thing on the table that the Finance Minister should be discussing with the President should be the submission of the figures as instructed by the President. However the Presidency has come out to deny reports that the Minister of Finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Wale Edun proposed N105,000 as minimum wage. The Presidency said the Ministerial document is a working one that has not be finalised and that government has not taken a decision on the report. It also claimed that Tinubu is currently reviewing the proposal, and an official announcement is expected soon.
