There are strong indications that as President Muhammadu Buhari appears ready to assent to a new national minimum wage, following its recent passage by the National Assembly, he may be compelled to prune down the bogus salaries earned by some classes of civil servants in the country, particularly those in the employ of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), among other agencies.
This much became
glaring when the president received the report of the Presidential
Technical Advisory Committee on Implementation of National Minimum Wage,
which was headed by Bismarck Rewane, at the Presidential Villa, on
Monday.
Although the National Assembly was yet to transmit the
new wage bill it passed to the president for assent, Buhari had on
January 9, 2019 inaugurated the committee, with a clear mandate that it
should advise the government on how best to fund, in a sustained manner,
the additional costs of implementing the imminent increase in the
National Minimum Wage.
Part of the terms of reference he gave the
committee was that after the new minimum wage had been passed into law,
government would go into negotiations for salary review for all the
workers who were already earning above the new minimum wage.
The
president had underscored in his remarks that it was important to
properly prepare the minds of those public servants involved so that
they would not be taken unawares when it was to time for implementation.
In
tandem with the grievances of organised labour movement, the president
had noted that the last time Nigeria’s national minimum wage was
reviewed was in 2011, hence it was evident that a review was necessary,
despite the prevailing fiscal challenges.
Although full details
of the recommendations were still being kept under wraps by the
government, Buhari had while receiving the report from Rewane, commended
the committee members for their patriotism, hard work, commitment, and
sacrifices.
“I understand that you have worked tirelessly to
ensure that you deliver the report before we receive the Minimum Wage
Bill from the National Assembly,” the president told the members which
included Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr. Babatunde
Fowler, ex-FIRS boss, Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, Dr. Ayo Teriba, Chief
Executive Officer, and Prof. Akpan Ekpo, among others.
The
membership from the public sector included the Director General of
Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, who is the secretary of the committee;
representative of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF); Chairman of the
National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, Richard Egbule;
Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office of the Head of Service of
the Federation, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack; Permanent Secretary, General
Service Office, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Olusegun Adekunle; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance,
Dr. Mahmoud Isa-Dutse; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and
National Planning, Olajide Odewale; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of
Labour, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, and Solicitor General of the Federation and
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Dayo Apata.
Others
were Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Office of the
Vice President, Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu; Deputy Governor of the Central
Bank of Nigeria, Economic Policy, Dr. Joseph Nnanna; Accountant General
of the Federation, Ahmed Idris; Director General, Debt Management
Office, Ms. Patience Oniaga; Director General, National Institute of
Social and Economic Research, Dr. Folarin Gbadebo-Smith; Statistician
General, National Bureau of Statistics, Dr. Yemi Kale; Mrs. Aisha Hamad,
Mamman Garba, and Tunde Lawal.
There were indications
that the Federal Government was also mulling an increase in Value Added
Tax (VAT) from five percent to about fifteen percent, so as to enable it
meet the envisaged wage increase.
“However, we anticipate that
after the new minimum wage has been passed into law, we will be going
into negotiations for salary review for all the workers who are already
earning above the new minimum wage. It is therefore important that we
are properly prepared to meet these demands.
“We must therefore
look at ways of implementing these consequential wage adjustments in a
manner that does not have adverse effects on our national development
plans, as laid out in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
“The
ERGP sets appropriate targets for levels of capital expenditure, public
debt, inflation, employment. It is absolutely important that the
implementation of a new minimum wage does not adversely affect these
targets, and thereby erode the envisaged gains for the workers.
“It
is against this background that I have set up a technical committee to
advise government on how best to fund, in a sustained manner, the
additional costs that will arise from the implementation of the
consequential increases in salaries and allowances for workers currently
earning above the new minimum wage,” Buhari had stated.
Prior to
the 2019 general elections, government had settled for N30,000 as
minimum wage for federal workers, while state workers were to go home
with N27,000 after consulting the National Council of State members
comprising former presidents, military heads of state, including former
chief justices of the Supreme Court.
But with the latest passage, the National Assembly may have pegged the wage bill across all categories of workers at N30, 000.
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