Reps pass national minimum wage bill, okays #30,000

The house of representatives has passed the bill raising the national minimum wage.

The lower legislative chamber passed the bill after considering the report of its ad hoc committee during plenary on Tuesday.

The passage comes about a week after President Muhammadu Buhari sent the wage bill for consideration, following its approval by the national council of state.

The council had approved the sum of N27,000 while the federal government said it would increase it to N30,000 for its workers.

But while considering the bill, the lawmakers resolved to leave the national minimum wage “as recommended by the tripartite committee”.

The committee had approved N30,000 for both federal and state workers.

The lawmakers also resolved that the bill would be effective the day it is assented to by the president.

They also increased the penalty for failure to pay the minimum wage from N5,000 to N75,000.

Last week, the senate passed the bill for second reading, before adjourning sitting till after the elections.

RELIEF AT LAST?

Some had argued N30,000 will not be enough as minimum wage for workers in the country.

Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives, said on Tuesday that it will not sustain even a small family.

Nigeria remains one of the countries with lowest minimum wage, with that of South Africa as high as N91,225.