South-West pensioners call for abolition of 5-yearly review of minimum wage

By Jacob Akintunde

Olusegun Abatan, the South-West Zonal Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), has demanded the abolition of five yearly review of the minimum wage, instead same should be negotiated periodically in line with economic reality.

Abatan, who made the demand on behalf of the union, in a communique issued at the end of their zonal council meeting, held in Akure and attended by pensioners’ executives from Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Osun, Lagos and the host Ondo state, said they are not happy that President Bola Tinubu’s government and state governors are not taking the minimum wage negotiation with NLC and TUC seriously amidst hardship confronting workers, pensioners and Nigerians at large since the removal of fuel subsidy.

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The NLC/TUC proposed N497,000 as the new minimum wage, while government’s side and organised private sector are pushing for N57,000.

But while reacting to the stalemate in the negotiation, the Southwest NUP leadership said; “In Nigeria, the situation is so dynamic that what you’re earning five years ago with the current situation of buying and selling commodities, services now, you will definitely see that it is different.

“So what we are saying in essence is that we should go back to our memory lane, while the NLC and TUC should send a Bill to the National Assembly for enactment of a law that will compel government to review minimum wage whenever there is economic problem.

“The salary increase should be based according to the dictates of socio-economic situation of the country, not until it reach five years. So the demands of NLC, TUC is not out of place if we factor the economic problem, the amount of money the political holders are collecting every month in this country.”

According to the communique, there is a need for the Ondo state Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa to fulfill his promise of regular payment of gratuities and his administration should restore payment of N10,000 palliative allowance to pensioners in the state which was stopped since January this year.

“We also want to congratulate the President for clocking a year in the office, while we also want to congratulate NADECO, from where Bola Tinubu came from because he was a very active member of the group. But since he came on board as our President, we have not seen the signs of His Excellency key into the ideas of NADECO.

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“We want him (Tinubu) to go back and see what he can do, he should go back and do what he was saying during the time of NADECO. He should do what he said then that Nigeria should have a better life, because things are getting worse every day,” the union said.