FG okays composition of minimum wage committee

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the membership of the proposed National Minimum Wage Committee to be inaugurated soon.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, dropped the hint after briefing the president on the developments in his ministry.

He disclosed that membership of the panel is a tripartite committee involving the federal, states and the private sector.

Others members are the National Employment Consultative Agency (NECA), the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Ngige added that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), also made their nominations.

He said the date for the inauguration would be determined, as soon as members of the organised labour return from a meeting of the Labour Governing Board in Geneva, Switzerland.

On his promise to address the challenge of minimum wage, he ‎said: “When we came to power in 2015, there was a minimum wage, but by May 2016, we had a deregulation in the petroleum industry, which made the prices of petroleum products to increase.

“The old law expired last year August and we are now in the process of empaneling a new national minimum wage committee.”