There are indications that the Federal Government may have resolved to review the revenue allocation sharing formula following persistent pressures from states as a precondition for payment of the new N30,000 minimum wage by states
This was one of the major fall outs of the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa on Thursday.
BusinessDay gathered that the NEC also resolved to take the thorny issues to the Council of State for further deliberations.
The decision to consult with the Council of State, which comprises the President, who is the Chairman; Vice-President, who is the Deputy Chairman; All former Presidents of the Federation and all former Heads of the Government of the Federation; All former Chief Justices of Nigeria; President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives; All the governors of the states of the Federation; and Attorney-General of the Federation was arrived at the National Economic Council(NEC) chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday at the Presidential Villa.
A Cabinet meeting which was presided over by President Muhamamdu Buhari was called to fine tune the Bill this week, but government shelved making its conclusion public until the outcome of today’s NEC meeting.
Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed, had disclosed after the meeting that the decision of the Cabinet will be forwarded to NEC to ensure harmony.
This followed insistence by the governors that they would not be able to pay the N30,000 minimum wage demanded by members of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC.
BusinessDay also gathered that the move to involve the National Council of State was sequel to threats from the organised labour to shut down the economy on January 28.
Responding to questions from State House correspondents after NEC, Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige said, “Well there is no outcome as such, it’s a work in progress, the Information Minister told you the other day after the Federal Executive Council meeting that we are taking our deliberations to the National Economic Council and then we close up on the 22nd at the Council of State meeting after that we will be able to say where we are going.
“Especially on the figures, frequency of review, those that have exemption and everything about the bill, so that people will know because by then we will be ready to transmit it to the National Assembly in consonance with our agreement with Labour that we will transmit the new bill on or before the 23rd of January.
Ngige however said discussions on the N30,000 minimum wage are still ongoing and will terminate on January 22 “when we meet with the council of state”.
BusinessDay recalls that the National Council of State last held their meeting about 11 months ago, on February 22, 2018 to deliberate on Nigeria’s economy, security and 2019 elections.
The body advises the incumbent President in the exercise of his powers with respect to the: National population census and compilation, publication and keeping of records and other information concerning the same; Prerogative of mercy; Award of National honours; The Independent National Electoral Commission (including the appointment of members of that Commission); The National Judicial Council (including the appointment of the members, other than ex-officio members of that Council); and The National Population Commission (including the appointment of members of that Commission).
Recall that while the governors insisted on paying N22,500, the federal government initially settled for N24,000 until the national tripartite committee chaired by former Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ama Pepple agreed on N30,000.
Briefing State House Correspondents after the NEC meeting , Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State refused to give details about the deliberations on the Minimum Wage, insisting that only members of the Tripartite Committee could speak on the issue.
The governor however gave details of the balance in the Federation Account as at December 31, 2018, including the Excess Crude Account which stands at $497,864,626.08, while the Stabilisation Account stands at N29,672,829,101.47, and Natural Resources Development Fund stands at N135,476,046,912.57.
Tony Ailemen, Abuja
