President
Muhammadu Buhari yesterday directed the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, to
facilitate release of 50 per cent from the balance of the first tranche of
Paris Club refund to the 36 state governors.
The
President said the governors must use the amount, which has not been disclosed,
to clear all outstanding workers’ salaries before Christmas.
Imo State
governor, Rochas Okorocha, who gave the indication, said the directive followed
resolution reached between Buhari and the governors on the Paris Club refund
during a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Okorocha
told State House correspondents that the President had already instructed the
Central Bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, and the Minister of Economic Planning,
Udoma Udo Udoma, to liaise with Adeosun and negotiate with the governors on the
figure from the refund.
Buhari,
meanwhile, has inaugurated a 30-member committee to discuss a new national
minimum wage.
A former
Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF), Ama Pepple, will lead the team. The
Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, is deputy chairman. The
chairman, National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission, Chief Richard Egbule,
will serve as secretary.
Other
members are: the governors of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola (South West); Imo
State, Okorocha (South East); Gombe State, Hassan Dankwambo (North East);
Rivers State, Nyesom Wike (South South); Plateau State, Simon Lalong (North
Central); and Kebbi State, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (North West). The
Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, A. B. Okauru, will be an
observer.
Inaugurating
the committee at the Council Chambers of the Villa, yesterday, Buhari urged the
members to be thorough.
He said the
government’s decision, after considering the committee’s final recommendation,
would be sent as an executive bill to the National Assembly for scrutiny before
passage into law.
“I am
hopeful that the principles of full consultation with social partners and their
direct participation would be utilised by the committee, bearing in mind the
core provisions of the International Labour Organisation Minimum Wage Fixing
Convention No. 131 and Minimum Wage Fixing Machinery Convention No.26 (ratified
by Nigeria),” he said.
Joined by
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and his Kano State counterpart,
Abdullahi Ganduje, Okorocha said: “We also made a request for the President’s
approval that the balance should form part of our 2018 budget, because we can’t
include it until we are sure that the money is coming. That was also sorted
out. The issue of workers took centre stage. The President was concerned about
those who depend on salaries to feed their families and pay house rent, and he
had assurance from the governors that we will meet those obligations.
El-Rufai
explained: “The Paris Club figures need to be reconciled. While the
reconciliation process was going on, the President approved 50 per cent of the
original amount be paid to the states. The payment started from last year. We
still have the balance of the first 50 per cent. This is what the President
said should be paid to state governments to meet their obligations before
Christmas.”
On the
expected amount to be released before Christmas, El-Rufai said: “I don’t know.
I’m sure that if you contact the Ministry of Finance, they can give you the
total amount. I only know what my state is likely to get.
The refund
is in respect of excess deductions on Paris Club and London Club loans and
multilateral debts between 1995-2002.
The Federal
Government had said that the funds were released to states as part of wider
efforts to stimulate the economy and were specifically designed to support them
in meeting salary and other obligations, thereby alleviating challenges faced
by workers.
Despite the
release of a total of N516.38billion to the states in the first tranche with
another N243.7 billion in the second, most states still owe their workers up to
seven months in arrears.
In a related
development, the national president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade
Ayuba Wabba, said to State House correspondents yesterday that: “We have made a
demand of N56,000. If there are new variables, we will look at that figure
again because when we presented N56,000, the exchange rate was not at N360; it
was below N200. Those are the variables we are going to look at the negotiation
table. And then on the basis of those, we would be able to make headway.”
He added:
“Reviewing the minimum wage has been central in matters that the organised
labour has been trying to canvas because of the fact that a lot of issues have
happened with the economy and the value of the naira but importantly with the
purchasing power of ordinary Nigerians and pensioners.”
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