Lukman: Labour, FG’s Negotiation Should Be Expanded to State, Private Sector

A former National Vice Chairman of the APC, North-west, Dr. Salihu Lukman, has said the ongoing negotiation between the federal government and the organised labour should be expanded to include all employers, organised private sector and state governments.

Lukman, in a statement issued yesterday, commended both the federal government and the leadership of the NLC and TUC for the landmark resolutions reached on October 1, 2023, which removed the threat of the proposed October 3, 2023, nationwide industrial action.

According to him, it was important that the negotiation between the federal government, on one hand, and the NLC and TUC, on the other, be expanded to include all employers inclusive of organised private sector and state governments.

The APC chieftain was of the opinion that putting in place framework for negotiation between employers and organised labour was what was required to correct the perceived injustice in the workplace in all sectors and in every section of the country.

Lukman, however, pointed out that some of the challenges that could readily be identified included, for instance, what happens at the end of the six months of implementing the additional N35,000 payment to federal employees?

He stressed that while, “Government has announced its intention to open negotiations for the review of minimum wage in the country, should Nigerians expect that agreement for a new minimum wage will be reached within the six months?

“If agreement for the new minimum wage is to be reached within the six months, should Nigerians expect that the new minimum wage will not be less than the aggregate of the current minimum wage plus the additional N35,000 being offered for the next six months?

“In which case, since the current minimum wage is N30,000, should Nigerians therefore expect a new national minimum wage at least N65,000?

 “Before attempting to explore any probability of a new N65,000 minimum wage, perhaps, it will be necessary to first check the implication of additional N35,000 to all federal employees.

“Based on records of Bureau of Public Service Reform (BPSR), the total number of workers in the Federal Civil Service is 720,000, with a monthly cost of about N320 billion. Additional N35,000 to all categories of federal employees will mean an additional N25 billion to the monthly personnel cost of federal government, which is about a 7.7 per cent increase.”

Lukman pointed out that if the minimum wage was to be increased to N65,000, the additional cost to the federal government would be less than 10 per cent.

He queried: “What about workers at states, local governments, and organised private sector? Can states, local governments and organised private sector also be given similar offers?

“Can these categories of employers afford any additional offer? If not, what contingency measure should be taken to capacitate these categories of employers to mitigate the sufferings of their workforce occasioned by the withdrawal of subsidies?

“Finding answers to these questions is at the root of challenges of managing labour relations in the country. In fact, inability to address these questions is responsible for all the challenges of guaranteeing the ability of all employers to comply with statutory provisions of minimum wage in the country.”

The former Director General of Progressives Governors Forum said as it was beyond the federal government, many state governments and some big private employers, were already in default of existing statutory provision of national minimum wage of N30,000.

Lukman alleged that not up to 20 states governments have implemented the N30,000 minimum wage, while almost all the 774 local governments are in default.

He noted: “If the revenue indices are anything to go by, the truth is that Nigeria is poor. With a federal budget of about N20 trillion, which is about $30 billion, Nigeria is operating at about 10 per cent its spending capacity.

“Countries like Brazil, India, Indonesia and even South Africa are operating budgets of more than $200 billion.

 “At the state level, except for Lagos State, none of our states has a N1 trillion budget. In fact, most states’ budgets are below N250 billion. With reference to personnel cost, average monthly costs for state governments are more than N2 billion. Many states generate less than N1 billion monthly. Average receipt from the federation account is between N3 and N4 billion.”