The Senate has on Tuesday read and passed the National Minimum Wage Act CAP N61 LFN (repeal and re-enactment) Bill, 2019.
A report by the Ad hoc committee on National minimum wage was presented by Senator Francis Alimikhena, Punch reports.
The Senate then dissolved into the Committee of the Whole for the clause by clause consideration of the report of the Ad-hoc Committee.
While deliberating on the report of the committee, Senator Ahmad Lawan said, the Ad-hoc Committee promised to give a new minimum wage to Nigerians and they have fulfilled the promise.
According to him, “This gesture should be appreciated. We do not have to wait until we are threatened with strike action before we take action. The Nigerian workers must show that the government is paying them and they are paying the government in service.”
The Senate President Bukola Saraki who spoke after the bill had been passed, commended the leaders of the Union.
“I want to commend the leaders of the organisations of the union”, Saraki said. Let me also state that as government, we should ensure that at times like these, we should not wait for there to be strikes to do what is truly deserving for our workers.”
