Senate Promises Swift Passage Of Minimum Wage Bill If Consensus Reached
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Yemi Adaramodu, has said the National Assembly is putting in place a legislation that will compel all the 36 states in the country to pay to the new minimum wage to be approved soon by the federal government.
Adaramodu stated this during an interview with newsmen in Abuja, on Friday, June 14.
He said the Senate would pass the new minimum wage bill for the President to sign, and ensure strict adherence to its implementation.
“Once it becomes law, we are going to make it watertight, and don’t let us just speculate what is going to be the ingredients that the federal government would be putting into the bill that will be brought by the executive to be submitted to the National Assembly.
“When it comes, whatever is there and whatever is not there, we are going to ensure that it’s going to be watertight; that it’s going to be obeyed by all, he said.
He explained that when the executive bill arrives and is discussed at plenary, there would be various opinions, and the Senate would invite not only legislators but also organised labour to contribute to the law-making process, adding that the lawmakers would collectively decide on sanctions for non-compliance with the law.
When asked how quickly the National Assembly would pass the bill if presented by the President, Adaramodu said it would be passed as quickly as possible.
The Senate spokesperson stated that the bill would undergo thorough scrutiny and receive swift passage if the federal government and organised labour reached a consensus on the minimum wage figure, adding that if brought to the National Assembly by the President immediately after Sallah, it would be addressed with the speed of light and passed promptly for the benefit of Nigerian workers.
Recall that the federal government proposed N62,000 as the new minimum wage, a N2000 increase from the earlier N60,000.
However, the organised labour demanded a much higher minimum wage, pegging the earlier N615,000 to N250,000.
