Tinubu, Shettima, governors in closed-door meeting

President Bola Tinubu is currently meeting with some state governors at the State House, Abuja.

The meeting comes after the president met with the leaders of organised labour over minimum wage negotiations.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima is also attending the meeting.

Earlier, the representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) had a meeting with Tinubu at the presidential villa.

Though labour leaders and government representatives at the meeting said they discussed the minimum wage, they are to reconvene in seven days.

Over the past few months, labour unions, federal and state governments, and the private sector have been deliberating on a new minimum wage for workers.

On June 3, labour unions embarked on an indefinite nationwide strike over the failure of the government to yield to their demand for the minimum wage.

The NLC and TUC had proposed N494,000 as the new national minimum wage, citing inflation and the prevailing economic hardship in the country, while rejecting the federal government’s N60,000 minimum wage offer.

On June 7, state governors under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) said a N60,000 minimum wage would prove unsustainable.

At the last meeting of the tripartite committee, organised labour rejected the N62,000 proposed by the government and lowered its demand to N250,000.

The federal government had asked labour unions to demand a more realistic and sustainable wage.

Tinubu had also directed Wale Edun, minister of finance, to present the cost implications for a new minimum wage.

Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, said the presentation would form the basis of further negotiations.