ABUJA/Nigeria: Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to reject any minimum wage offer from the federal government below N250,000 per month. This comes in response to reports that the federal government has proposed a new minimum wage of N105,000 during ongoing tripartite negotiations.
“Any amount below N250,000 cannot be considered a decent wage for Nigerian workers considering the present socio-economic hardship in the country,” Frank stated.
In a statement from Abuja, Frank criticized the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration for its double standards in salary adjustments. He pointed out that while the government proposed a significant salary increase for judicial officers, it is offering only a minimal raise for other workers.
According to Frank, Tinubu recently sent a bill to the National Assembly proposing a 300 percent salary increase for Supreme Court Justices, Appeal Court Justices, President of the National Industrial Court, Judges of the Federal and State High Courts, and Grand Khadi of State Sharia Courts, among others. The bill was swiftly passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and is now awaiting the President’s assent to become law.
“How can you increase the salary of an arm of government that is already earning a humongous salary by 300 percent and add peanuts to the paltry N30,000 that workers have been compelled to live with in this country as minimum wage in the last five years?” Frank questioned. He accused the President of setting up a tripartite committee to negotiate what he termed a “starvation wage” for Nigerian workers, contrasting it with the “living wage” promised by Tinubu when he took office in May last year.
Frank, who also serves as the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and the Middle East, argued that the executive, legislative, and judicial branches should reduce their salaries and allowances to better support Nigerian workers, who often struggle to afford even one meal a day.
“Nigerians are no fools as they know that the proposed generous increase in the salaries of Judicial Office Holders is meant to pay them for the devious work they did to judicially ratify the stay of key political office holders in this administration, including President Tinubu and Senate President, Godswill Akpabio,” he asserted. Frank warned that this move could be an attempt to compromise judicial impartiality ahead of future elections.
Emphasizing that workers are the engine of the nation’s economy, Frank insisted that a living wage would motivate them to work diligently for the country’s development. He urged labor leaders to stand firm in their demand for a fair wage, leaving a positive legacy rather than being remembered in infamy.
Frank concluded by encouraging labor leaders to ensure that their actions during this critical period are remembered as a resolute stand for workers’ rights.
