The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige has said the Federal Government will increase workers salaries in 2017.
Ngige also said the increase in salary which will be implemented by the Buhari administration will be different from that of any other government in Nigeria.
The minister also revealed that the pay rise, when announced, will be implemented by the public and private sector.
Ngige said this while speaking to newsmen at an interactive session in Anambra state on Tuesday, December 13, 2016.
He said the “minimum wage is a constitutional issue and is in the exclusive list.
“The Nigerian workers are entitled to a review of their pay under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The various committees handling this matter are all working hard to realise the objective. Some are at the final stages of their work.”
It will be recalled that Ngige had said labour has a legitimate right to call for wage increase, revealing that the Federal Government is considering the demand by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for the minimum wage to be increased to N56,000.
“The other day, labour requested increased wages for workers and they have only done what they are supposed to do. Therefore, nobody will quarrel with them. At the appropriate time, we shall all sit down because what the labour is asking is for the re-negotiation of an existing Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA). And every CBA-based agreement is subject to re-negotiation at any given time that any of the partners requests it.”
Adding that “It is wrong for people to think that whenever the labour makes such a demand, the nation is boiling. The labour in Nigeria has for the first time met a labour-friendly government under President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The government has put machinery in motion as we speak because I have got a letter as the Minister of Labour and Employment for my advice. We shall advise the government the way such a tripartite negotiation will be handled so that everybody will be satisfied without any industrial unrest.”
