NASS sets up ad hoc c’ttees on new Minimum Wage

…Bill passes 1st, 2nd reading at Senate

…Reps pass Bill for 2nd reading, to hold public hearing Monday

Tunde Opalana and Henry Omunu, Abuja

The bill for the amendment of the National Minimum Wage Act 2011 to increase public and private sector workers minimum wage from N18,000 to N27,000 received expeditious hearing at the National Assembly on Thursday. At the Senate, the Bill scaled both first and second reading after which it was committed to a Special Ad hoc Committee for further legislative work. The Senate suspended its standing rule 79 and set aside all legislative communication protocols to pass the controversial N27,000 minimum wage Bill first and second reading in one day. Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over plenary, said this is the first time that the 8th Senate would suspend its rules to take a First and Second Reading of an Executive Communication. Ekweremadu noted that the Senate decided to give the National Minimum Wage Bill presented to it by President Muhammadu Buhari an accelerated hearing due to its importance. Ekweremadu also clarified that contrary to media reports, there is only a single Bill from the Executive to the Senate which he said has a recommendation of N27,000 for both federal and state workers. Recall that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, was reported to have said that in the recommendation of the Council of State, the Federal Government will pay its workers N30,000 while the state governments will pay their workers N27,000 as minimum wage. To this end, the Deputy Senate President said the recommendation in the Bill that the new national minimum wage be applied to all companies with up to twenty five workers may not be necessary because many low income workers may not be captured, pointing out that national minimum wage is for everybody. He said there must be conscious efforts to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in the country, calling on the governors to improve their revenues by expanding all collectible taxes to finance the new minimum wage. “This will be the first time the 8th Senate is reading an Executive Communication and suspending our rules to take a First and Second Reading and assigning the Bill to a Committee, all in one day. This shows how committed we are to this issue. “I believe what we have said so far will suffice in guiding the Committee. Just to clarify: the new minimum wage brought to us is set at N27,000. There were news reports of N27,000 for state workers and N30,000 for the Federal Government workers, but this is a single national minimum wage of N27,000. Another issue of concern is whether this affects organisations and establishments employing less than 25 persons. “If this does not affect these people, it means a whole number of people are left outside the minimum wage and that is not right. In most countries, the minimum wage applies to all workers, regardless of the number of people in an establishment. “I believe that at the public hearing, we will be able to clarify and sort it all out. We must try our best to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor,” the Deputy Senate President said. This is just as the Senate set up an eight-man ad hoc committee representing the six geo-political zones to fine-tune the final passage of the Bill into law for the assent of President Muhammadu Buhari. They are Senate Majority Whip, Senator Olusola Adeyeye (South West), as the Chairman of Special Ad-Hoc Committee while other members include Senator Abu Ibrahim, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Labour; Senator Shehu Sani (representing the North West); Senator Sam Egwu (South East); Senator Suleiman Adokwe (North Central); Senator Francis Alimikhena (South South); and Senator Binta Masi Garba (North East). The Committee was directed to report back to the Senate in Plenary within two weeks. Earlier leading debate on the Bill, the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan (APC, Yobe north), said the Bill is an executive communication, which Rule 79 of the Senate Order Book requires must pass three readings on different days before being passed for executive assent. However, he said: “This is a very critical bill and I therefore feel that the Senate should give it a very expeditious passage; and that requires suspension of Order 79, so that we take the first and second reading immediately and refer it to the relevant committee. “This is one bill that enjoys the support of every political party in Nigeria. The public and civil servants require motivation; they need incentives, they need to be cared for. It is my desire and I am sure it is the position of all the senators that this bill be given expeditious passage so that it takes effect immediately in 2019. “We will work on the Appropriation Bill 2019. We have to reflect the financial implication of this bill. Moving from the current N18,000 minimum wage is certainly a major increase; it may not be what our civil servants hoped for and wanted, but it is still an improved situation”, Lawan said. Meanwhile, in their respective contributions, most of the senators canvassed that the Senate increase the Minimum wage from N27,000 as recommended by the executive to N30,000, saying that Nigerian workers deserve more, which they all agreed that the nation can offer if the waste in governance will be reduced. According to Senator Barau Jibril, the economy of the country is such that there is no doubt that the N18,000 is no longer acceptable for minimum wage. He said governors have to look inwards to generate more revenue to be able to pay the new minimum wage, likewise the private sector. Emmanuel Paulker, in his remarks, observed that Nigerian workers now live in financial stress to meet their daily needs, punting out that there are still backlog of salaries owed by some state governors. He warned that the Senate will not take a situation where when the Bill is passed, some governors will not pay, as that will make a mess of the whole efforts. Senator Anyanwu Samuel, in his contribution, said the wage Bill is still not yet enough compared to other economies, noting that it is not something to celebrate. According to him, though the Council of State has recommended N27,000, the Senate can make it better by jerking it to N30,000 so that the labour union does not go on strike again. Senator Shehu Sani also canvassed that the Senate increase the minimum wage to N30,000, just as Senator Solomon Adokwe, in his argument, said the salary increase should not be fifty per cent across board as being championed in some quarters. He said this will over bloat the wage Bill of the state governments, but explained that if extra nine thousand extra is added to the salary of every worker as the increase in minimum wage, then, the financial burden will be such that government can bear. Senator Barnabas Gemade also said that Nigeria can do better as the nation is not as poor as being made to look, but due to mismanagement of resources by those in-charge. He said governors are facing billions of naira charges by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yet they still claim they don’t have money to pay their workers, warning that government should do more to ensure better life for the workers. Passing the National Minimum Wage (amendment) Act 2011 bill for second reading, on Thursday, the House of Representatives set up an ad hoc committee to be chaired by Deputy Speaker Yusuff Lasun to fine-tune the document. The 12-member ad hoc committee as constituted by Speaker Yakubu Dogara is expected to conduct a public hearing on Monday and submit its recommendations on Tuesday for consideration by the House. Before the resolution, members had condemned the N27,000 recommended by the Council of State. House Deputy Whip, Rep. Pally Iriase (APC/Edo) urged the House not to pass the bill as drafted in order not to see the House as a rubber stamp, adding that the bill should be well debated and referred to relevant committees. “You and I know that the revenue formula is due for a review. N30,000 should be what the House should pass instead of the N27,000,” he argued. According to Rep. Adamu Chika (APC/ Niger), the amount recommended is grossly inadequate as the increment in wages will lead to an increase in prices of goods. Other lawmakers in their contributions condemned the situation where the increment only affects lower cadre workers, saying everybody goes to the same market. Rep. Tobi Okechukwu argued that some states were still unable to pay workers despite the bailout funds they received from the Federal Government while insisting for the sustenance of the legal framework to regulate minimum wage adjustment. Earlier, Speaker Dogara had read a letter from the Presidency regarding the approval of the new national minimum wage of N27,000 by the Council of State. After reading the letter, Speaker Dogara noted that N30,000 was not reflected in the letter sent to the National Assembly as against the initial reports in the media. He therefore directed that the bill be gazetted and slated for first and second reading immediately before the public hearing scheduled for Monday.