Senate Notched Up Workers Minimum wage

News Buffet — The Senate notched up workers expectations of an enhanced minimum wage yesterday when it fast-tracked the passage of the bill to amend the National Minimum Wage that provides N18, 000 as the least that could be paid to a worker in Nigeria. Sources told juicy gossip that the bill effectively raised the national minimum wage from N7, 500 to N18, 000.

Specifically, Section 1(1) of the bill states that; "As from the commencement of this Act,

it shall be the duty of every employer (except as provided for under the principal Act as amended) to pay a wage not less than the national minimum wage of N18,000 per month to every worker under his establishment."

An elated deputy president of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu who presided over the plenary said the new wage will alleviate the suffering of workers.

"We have responded appropriately to the yearnings of our workers who we are representing in this chamber. Today is a happy day because we have shown that we are conscious of the sufferings of our people. This country is rich enough to cater for everybody if we avoid the avarice of some few people", he said.

However, Ekweremadu appealed to Nigerians to be more responsive in paying their taxes to enable government fund the new minimum wage.

Leading the debate earlier on the bill, Senate Leader, Senator Teslim Folarin said that the bill which was read the first time on Wednesday 9, 2011 sought to further amend the National Minimum Wage Act, as amended, to provide for a revised national minimum wage and also to put in place a realistic penalty regime for violations of the provisions of the Act.

"You will recall that Nigerian workers under the aegis of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) had threatened industrial action during the last quarter of 2010. The threat was to compel the federal Government to review the minimum wage payable to the Nigerian workers. The Federal Government, after fruitful negotiations with representatives of labour, acceded to the demand of workers which culminated in the provisions of this bill", he said.

Nonetheless, Senator Folarin recommended that a more pragmatic approach should be evolved in future to address the subject of wage increase. "There is need to alter the Nigerian constitution by delisting of the subject of minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list to give both the federal and states government free hand in negotiating wage matters separately with their workers which will further strengthen our fiscal federalism "

Other senators who contributed in the debate supported that the bill be unanimously approved. Deputy Leader of the Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egaba (PDP, Cross River) said that there was the need for "us to quickly pass this bill for the simple reason that Nigerian workers have been made a promise by government that the minimum wage will be reviewed.

"Nigeria workers deserve it if you look at the wastage of government. In a federal structure we cannot impose the same wage on the different levels of government. We cannot seat in Abuja and legislate that there should be the same salary structure for everybody. The time has also come for us to look at the Constitution, and evolve laws consistent with the principles of federalism which include moving the wage from the exclusive legislative list so that the various tiers of government can legislate on what they can pay.

"It is also time for revenue commission and the salary and wages commission to index wages against cost of living. It should not be all the time that we should always come to the National Assembly to increase wages".

Senator Smart Adeyemi (PDP, Kogi) also contributing said; "I want to disagree that it will be practically impossible for some state governments to pay. We have more resources to pay. Some states in Nigeria are richer than some of the countries in West Africa, so they can pay. The problem is mismanagement of resources and corruption; people divert money from this country to abroad for selfish gains. I hold the strong view that N18,000 is not enough. I am also of the view that we should have a bill to review the minimum wage annually because of the rate of inflation.

In his own contribution, Senator Ahmed Lawan (ANPP, Yobe) said; "I believe that Nigerian workers deserve more than N18000. In addition to minimum wage, we also need to improve the capacity of our workers. It is not enough to give them more money that will not improve on their performance. They need trainings and more training. We need to go the extra mile to ensure that there are provisions in our budget on training and retraining of our workers. We cannot progress if wage increase is on the exclusive legislative list".

Meanwhile, as part of efforts to end the perennial crises in the Niger Delta region, the federal government has disclosed plans to commence paying about $600 million (N90 billion) as dividends to communities in the oil producing states.

The dividend which would be paid to the oil producing communities from oil revenue, according to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, was part of incentives in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), currently awaiting passage by the National Assembly.

Madueke made this disclosure yesterday in her address at the on-going Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference 2011, taking place in Abuja. She explained that the payment would come in the form of 10 per cent equity participation and one per cent of the total asset value in the oil producing communities and other directly impacted communities.

Speaking through the special adviser to the president on petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah, the Petroleum Minister stated that the clause was established in the PIB to protect oil and gas facilities located in the area.

While assuring of government's commitment to lasting peace in the Niger Delta region, the minister added that the dividends would be in the form of direct payments to the oil communities.

"Direct payments of dividends to oil producing communities will be established to address the Niger Delta crisis. Over $600 million is estimated as annual dividend payments to the communities hosting oil and gas producing facilities or directly impacted by the operation," Madueke said.

"With peace in the Niger Delta, Africa's top energy producer is on course to increasing her crude oil reserves to 40 billion barrels and maintain this through to 2020 from the current level of 37.2 billion barrels," she added.

Madueke who informed that government was aware that delay in the passage of PIB had put a lot of investment decisions on hold, assured that the bill would soon be passed.

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She said the bill aims at providing a robust transparency framework by remedying regulatory and operational challenges in line with best practices, adding that the bill would transform the country's oil sector in the interest of all.

Earlier, News Buffet gathered from Egbogah, in a separate session explained that the 10 per cent equity participation as well as the 1 per cent total asset value dividends will be administered based on a trust mechanism to ensure that the benefits are equitably conveyed to the impacted communities.

Explaining further, he said the expected annual dividend payment is different from the 10 per cent derivation fund that is accrued to oil producing states. "The total compensation sum is a summation of the value of the assets and expected revenue from the industry when the PIB becomes a law," the Presidential Adviser informed.

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