Decision on new minimum wage to be taken Monday -Ngige

Chris Ngige, minister of labour, says the federal government will decide on a new minimum wage on Monday.

Ngige made the disclosure after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja on Friday.

He said an “enlarged meeting of all key stakeholders” in the government circle at both federal and state level had been scheduled for Monday.

The minister said a decision would be taken at the end of the meeting and a draft law would be transmitted to the national assembly on the new national minimum wage law.

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has been at loggerheads with the federal government over a demand for an increase in the minimum wage.

The congress has threatened to embark on a nationwide strike from November 6, if the minimum wage, currently N18,000, is not reviewed upward.

The federal government had also threatened to invoke a policy of “no work no pay” if labour goes ahead with its planned strike action.

The presidency has said there might be a stalemate between labour and government if the N24,000 proposed by the federal government is not considered.