The lower chamber of the National Assembly, the House of Representatives has passed the new National Minimum Wage bill a day after public hearing was conducted.
President Muhammadu Buhari after the Council of State meeting that discussed among other things the new minimum wage had transmitted a letter to the lawmakers for the amendment of the Minimum Wage Act 2011 to raise the minimum wage from 18,000 to 27,000 for states and 30,000 for federal workers.
With the passage of the bill by the House of Representatives, the Senate is expected to agree with the recommendations of the Representatives when it returns from the elections break before transmitting to the President.
Recalled that a tripartite committee set up by the government had recommended N30,000, new minimum wage for civil servants in the country but the council of state endorsed the figure for federal staff while it recommended 27,000 for states and the private sector workers.
Although the Nigeria Labour Congress rejected the N27,000 while it insisted that 30,000 should be for all workers, the development of the House of Representatives may have douse any tension of a show down between the government and the organized labour on the issue.
