Minimum Wage: NLC To Embark On Nationwide Protest Today

Victoria Ogunrinde

The Nigerian Labour Congress has threatened to embark on a nationwide protest on Wednesday over moves by the National Assembly to remove the national minimum wage from the exclusive to the concurrent legislative list.

In a statement on Tuesday, the NLC said the protest will hold in the 36 states’ Houses of Assembly.

It added that the protest will start from the Unity Fountain Abuja at 7:30 am to the National Assembly complex.

The House of Representatives two weeks ago debated a bill to remove the powers to negotiate wage matters from the exclusive to the concurrent list, citing the inability of state governors to pay the N30,000 minimum wage for the move.

According to a communique jointly signed by NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, and the acting General Secretary of the NLC, Ismail Bello, the bill is an attempt to undermine Nigeria’s working class.

The NEC decided that there will be a national protest action commencing from March 10, 2021, in the Federal Capital Territory and especially to the National Assembly.

“The NEC decided that should the need arise, it has empowered the National Administrative Council of the NLC to declare and enforce a national strike action, especially if the legislators continue on the ruinous path of moving the national minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list,” it read in part.