Negotiations on the new national minimum wage ended in a stalemate yesterday as the Federal Government’s negotiating team failed to present a new offer beyond the previously stated ₦60,000.
This comes after President Bola Tinubu‘s directive on Tuesday to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to finalize the cost implications of the new minimum wage and submit an affordable, sustainable, and realistic proposal.
Tinubu noted the urgency of the matter, mandating that the government’s new offer be ready by Wednesday to serve as a basis for resumed negotiations with Organised Labour.
This instruction was part of a broader call to expedite all processes involved in the discussions to reach a timely conclusion.
However, during the negotiation meeting that resumed at 3:30 pm on Wednesday, it became apparent that the government team was not ready to present a new proposal.
Sources close to the negotiation table told Vanguard that the government’s absence of an updated offer limited progress in the talks.
A source at the meeting said: “The meeting was adjourned to give the Minister of Finance time to meet the deadline given to him by the President to present cost implications to him.
“We just deliberated generally and then they (the Federal Government team) said we needed to adjourn because they needed to get to the President. You know he (President Bola Tinubu) gave them an ultimatum to give him the cost implications.
“So we could understand that they did not have anything to give us since they had not given the President the cost implications. Those present at the meeting were the Minister of Finance, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning and the Minister of State for Labour. So, we will be resuming negotiation tomorrow (today) by 2pm.”
On whether the Finance Minister gave any assurance of getting the President’s mandate before today’s meeting, the source said: “They do not have a choice, we are not bothered about them. We do not think they have a choice because they cannot disobey the President.
“If they decide to disobey the President or if the President decides to renege on his promise, we all know the consequences.”