‘Make your case at public hearing’ — Gbaja advises NLC over bill to decentralise minimum wage

Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives, has asked labour unions to take advantage of public hearing to register their displeasure over the bill seeking to decentralise minimum wage. 

The speaker said this on Tuesday, at a meeting with representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

TheCable had reported that the unions had embarked on a nationwide protest against the bill seeking to move the national minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list.

The bill, which was sponsored by Garba Datti, Kaduna lawmaker, has passed first and second reading in the house of representatives.

The bill seeks to decentralise the payment of minimum wage to workers in the country — the move will allow states to pay according to their financial capabilities.

But speaking on Tuesday, Gbajabiamila said the dust being raised by the bill could be addressed during the public hearing where all stakeholders would be available.

“The fact is that I’m a labour-friendly speaker, and I represent a labour-friendly house. I want us to agree, first of all, that whatever was debated on the issue of minimum wage, the contributions by each member, were well intended,” he said.

“When we begin to castigate members like that, it doesn’t pay us. No member will come up with something that he knows will be against the people.

“I want to tell you that we will do what we ought to do. You know me, and you know some of our members. If this hurts the Nigerian people, we’ll do the right thing.

“In arresting a piece of legislation, because we are talking democracy here, you can do it through advocacy; you can do it at the public hearing.

“I had a bill, as the speaker of the house, that suffered the same fate — the infectious diseases bill. It went through a public hearing and now we have removed some things from the bill. We listened to Nigerians and now you won’t find some of those things anymore. I would have loved a situation where you made your case at the public hearing, or through advocacy in the media.”

Gbajabiamila added that if the bill doesn’t receive the support of majority of the lawmakers and Nigerians, it will “definitely” be stood down.

Reacting, Wabba said the NLC and the TUC started mobilising workers against the bill because they believed it would erode the years of progress made in minimum wage negotiations in the country.

The NLC president also noted that while the minimum wage is determined by the national parliament, employers at the sub-national levels are free to negotiate with their workers to pay higher, according to the available resources.