Updated: FG says funds to pay N56,000 minimum wage, allowances not available

The prospect of N56,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers may not materialise until allowances of federal workers are cleared.

This comes as the Federal Government has declared that it lacks funds to pay the backlog of allowances owed federal workers.

This came to the fore on Monday, as a meeting of the Federal Government, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the National Assembly failed to address the matter.

The meeting which held behind closed doors at the office of Senate President Bukola Saraki, was centred on payment of staff claims, particularly those bordering on promotion arrears, first 28 days, repatriation allowance, death benefits and pension arrears among others.

The meeting had in attendance, Senate President Bukola Saraki; Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan; Chairman Senate Committee on Labour Suleiman Nasif; Minister of Labour, Employment and Productivity Chris Ngige; Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun; Director-General, Budget Office, Ben Akabueze; NLC President Ayuba Wabba among others.

Addressing journalists on the outcome of the meeting,  Ngige said government has no funds to pay the arrears. He added that another meeting has been slated forTuesday.

“We looked at the issues of salary arrears, promotion arrears, death benefits, location expenses and transfer allowances which will aid the hotels which overtime have accumulated and had run into billions  and this is what is owed to federal public servants and we started the meeting today to find a solution.

“The labour leaders engage ourselves and we try to work something that would help them and help us restore the confidence we have with them, that is the employers and employees.  If we don’t have that confidence, we may have a breakdown of industrial harmony. So we make progress today and we have adjourned to reconvene tomorrow (Tuesday) at 4pm,  all sides are to go back and come back tomorrow with possible solutions to the identified problems which is government doesn’t have enough funds for now, to tackle the issues,” the Labour Minister said.

On his part, Wabba disclosed that some of the demands of workers requires budgetary provisions as well as amendments of some extant laws.

He stated: “We have adjourned to allow thorough reflection over some of those issues and to be able to come up with workable solutions that will address these issues.

“Those are the totality of issues we are actually working on and it is a holistic process which you know that the processes require laws; they also require some budgetary provisions,”.

At the May Day event in Abuja last week, Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the House of Representatives, Ngige and Adams Oshiomole Ex-President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) were forced to leave Eagle Square – venue of the event abruptly, after workers insisted on N56,000 minimum wage.

Displacement caused by conflict and natural disasters can fuel statelessness, which may prevent people rebuilding their lives in the Lake Chad region, where Islamist militants Boko Haram has waged a seven-year insurgency, according to the UNHCR.

 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja