A bill which seeks to review the National Minimum Wage every five years passed second reading in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The bill was sponsored by Femi Gbajabiamila (APC, Lagos) the House Leader.
Leading the debate on the general principles, Mr. Gbajabiamila said the bill sought to provide for periodic review of the national minimum wage every five years.
The house leader blamed the continuous clamour for increased minimum wage by workers across the country on inflation.
“The minimum wage shall be subject to periodic review every five years and the first review shall be effective from January 1, 2017 irrespective of the day the bill comes into force,” he said.
Mr. Gbajabiamila described salary as a major component of workers’ welfare, adding that there was the need for a law to compel the federal government to effect a review.
The organised labour has in the past made a compelling case for an enhancement of the pay package of workers, citing spiraling inflation occasioned by the current economic recession and arguing that retention of the current minimum wage of N18,000 per month was insensitive and morally unjustifiable.
The NLC also proposed N56,000 monthly wage for the least paid worker, convinced that a new salary structure based on that minimum wage would shore up disposable incomes and lift workers out of the crushing poverty in which most of them have lived over the years.
