Workers demand new minimum wage

IN the light of present economic realities in the country, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is demanding a total review of workers’ salaries, stressing that the prevailing N18,000 monthly minimum wage has become unrealistic.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja during a courtesy visit to the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, the delegation, led by the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, equally asked the Senate leadership to overhaul the anti-corruption laws to give the campaign a stronger bite and hasten the dispensation of corruption-related cases.

The NLC also expressed dissatisfaction with government for failing to quickly investigate and punish those guilty of corruption in the oil sector, insisting that it would never accept the removal of oil subsidy because “it is not the problem of the oil sector.”

Responding, however, Saraki challenged Nigerian workers to play their part in the war against corruption to which the present administration has committed itself. He added that the Senate under his leadership is ready to work for Nigerians in spite of the erroneous impression being propagated by some persons.

According to him, it is time for workers to help government succeed in decisively and successfully tackling corruption once and for all.

More so, while the Senate has interacted with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), it also intends to engage the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to look at the areas where the National Assembly can assist to ensure that the fight against corruption is efficiently prosecuted.

Saraki said that excuses would no longer be tolerated since the country now has the right leadership with avowed political will to fight corruption, noting: “We in the Eighth Senate have said there would be zero tolerance for corruption.

“Corruption slows down development and I think it is time for the National Assembly, the Executive and the workers to show serious commitment. We now have a great opportunity to win the war against corruption because we have a leadership, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, that we believe has the political will to do the right thing.”

According to him, the internal challenges confronting the Eighth Senate are being addressed and would be resolved soon, as the Senate under his leadership would not abandon its constitutional mandate on the altar of personal ambition.

“You talked about the internal challenges that the NLC leadership is facing. I think I want to say the challenges are similar to ours,” he noted. “People contested elections, some will win and of course, some will lose, but at the end of the day we all win when we all leave our personal interest and look at the interest of Nigeria.

“I want to assure Nigerians that we in the Senate are ready to work for them. We are committed to the work we are elected to do. I think there is more of the noise outside the Senate than inside. We are committed and want our actions and words to speak for us.”

Wabba said: “What baffles us at the NLC is that some ‘intelligent people’ are now arguing that on account of the inherent fraud and corruption in the subsidy regime and the oil industry, Nigerians should suffer on account of the activities of these fraudsters by the removal of the subsidy. This is hardly rational.

“Those trying to take advantage of the subsidy situation and have committed fraudulent acts should be made to face the full punishment for their nefarious activities.

“Nigeria, as an oil-producing country, cannot continue to depend on importation of petroleum products for our internal consumption. The one sustainable way for us in the NLC, as we articulated in the deregulation report, is to make our four refineries work at full capacity and build new ones to take care of the shortfall, which the current refineries working at full capacity are unable to meet.”

The NLC urged government to take urgent steps to stop the importation of fuel as a way of addressing the problems in the oil sector.

It noted: “With the recent devaluation of the naira, as long as we continue with petroleum importation, ordinary Nigerians cannot afford these products locally, as the more our currency depreciates, the costlier the imported product would be.”

Meanwhile, Wabba said the NLC would soon submit a new minimum wage demand and expressed the hope that the apex lawmaking body would give it the necessary approval. According to him, “the last Minimum Wage Act was promulgated in 2011 by the National Assembly.

“The five-year cycle during which the National Minimum Wage is due for review is here. In addition, the devaluation of the naira from N150 to about N242 to $1 today underscores the grim situation for salary earners in the country against the fact that our economy is import-driven.

“The devaluation, in simple economic terms, means that the purchasing power of the ordinary Nigerian wage earner is grossly devalued. As a result of this grim economic reality, congress will soon submit a new minimum wage demand, which we hope will be negotiated by the traditional tripartite negotiating team of government, employers and the Organised Labour.”

The labour leader also charged the Senate to ensure that Nigerians are delivered from the shackles of poverty, which resulted from large-scale corruption. According to him, the nation’s ability to consolidate its democracy depends on how well and coordinated the dividends of democracy trickle down to the masses.

“Amidst these developments, the feeling and perception of Nigerians is that our anti-corruption laws are either overwhelmed or do not have the requisite edge to respond to the renewed assault on our collective conscience by those taking advantage of their positions to steal and loot our commonwealth without any qualms,” he continued.

“Corruption cases being handled by our anti-corruption agencies are taking too long – some having gone on for seven to nine years are often thrown out, not for lack of merit or points of law but on mere technicalities.

“For Nigerians to regain confidence in the anti-corruption agencies and the judicial process, high profile corruption cases need to be more quickly, diligently and competently handled and dispensed with at the court level.