The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the establishment of a 29-member tripartite committee to address agitations by the organised labour for the review of Nigeria’s minimum wage.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have repeatedly called for the upward review of minimum wage from N18,000 to N56,000 to enable workers meet up with the current economic realities in the country.
Briefing State House correspondents on Wednesday at the end of the weekly FEC meeting in Abuja, Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr. Chris Ngige, said the decision was taken following report of a technical committee on the matter.
He said there was the need for all stakeholders to thrash out by all stakeholders because of the persistence call by the organised labour for the review of the minimum wage and the ejection of the proposal by employers under the umbrella of Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).
He said the tripartite committee would be chaired by a seasoned Nigerian technocrat to be appointed by government while six state governors would be members.
Also speaking, Minister of Interior, Mr. Abdurahman Danbazzau, said the Acting President has directed that a proposal for decongestion and expansion of prisons as well as establishment of six ‘half-way houses’ across the country be presented to the National Economic Council (NEC) for more input.
The minister told journalists that the current prisons in the country were 100 years old, stressing that the deplorable prison conditions are worsened by the fact that 70 per cent of the inmates are awaiting trial, some for as long as 11 years.
He said the five per cent of the remaining 30 per cent of the inmates are on death row.
He said the plan, therefore, is to release some of the inmates using prerogative of mercy in conjunction with state governors.
He said the plan also targets the expansion and relocation of congested prisons as some states have agreed to provide adequate land for that purpose, especially Akwa Ibom, Kano and Lagos states.
The minister said the one half-way house would be established in each geopolitical zone to prepare inmates for reintegration into society shortly before their release.
