Tinubu gave us options of N250,000 minimum wage and N2,000 per litre —NLC

By Shehu Imam

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has said that the President, Bola Tinubu offered them two options between a N70,000 minimum wage and a pump price of N2,000 but the union settled for N70,000 as agreed by the Federal Government and other stakeholders.

Labour in a statement on Wednesday said that it is filled with a deep sense of betrayal “as the federal government clandestinely increases the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS) lamented one of the reasons for accepting N70,000 as national minimum wage was the understanding that the pump price would not be increased even as N70,000 was not sufficient.

The National President of the Organized Labour, Comrade Joe Ajaero stated yesterday. “Recall vividly when Mr President gave us the devil’s alternatives to choose from, either N250,000 as minimum wage (subject to the rise of the pump price between N1,500 and N2,000) and N70,000 (at old PMS rates), we opted for the latter because we could not bring ourselves to accept further punishment on Nigerians.

"We are barely one month after and with government yet to commence payment of the new national minimum wage, confronted by a reality we cannot explain, it is both traumatic and nightmarish.

"When we told the government that its approach to resolving the fuel subsidy contradictions was patently faulty and would not last, its front row cheerleaders sneered at us, saying we did not understand basic economics" he said.

The president continued that, "this act of betrayal is consistent with the character of this government. We recall the assurances we were given by the leadership of the National Assembly on the 250% tariff hike, that it had been dealt with and there was no need to openly engage the Minister of Power who was at that meeting.

“Instead of the promised reversal, the rate has since been jerked up further putting more Nigerians and businesses into jeopardy.”

He further lamented, the combined effects of government’s ferocious right-wing market policies brought Nigerians and Nigeria to their all-time low and led to the End-Hunger/End Bad Governance protests.