Indications have emerged that the organised labour is prepared to lower its demand for N1m minimum wage for workers in the country in line with realities on the ground. The shift in position will likely be communicated to the Federal Government during the second meeting of the tripartite committee on the minimum wage on Monday and Tuesday.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that the meeting would enhance deliberations between all parties involved in negotiations to allow for the announcement of a new minimum wage on or before April 1 following the expiration of the current N30,000 minimum wage as provided by the law.
President Bola Tinubu, through his deputy, Kashim Shettima, had on January 30, 2024, inaugurated a 37-member panel on the new minimum wage at the Council Chamber of the State House in Abuja.
With its membership cutting across the federal and state governments, the private sector, and organised labour, the panel is to recommend a new national minimum wage for the country.
In his opening address at the inauguration, Shettima urged members to "speedily" arrive at a resolution and submit a report early as the current N30,000 minimum wage expires at the end of next month.
"The timely submission (of the report) is crucial to ensure the emergence of a new minimum wage," Shettima said.
He also urged good faith in collective bargaining, emphasising contract adherence and encouraging consultations outside the committee.
Portable cries out over studio robbery
Photo Credit: Punch
A controversial singer, Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, has cried out that his music studio in the Sango-Ota area of Ogun State, was robbed on Saturday morning, February 17, 2024.
Sharing the news on his Instagram page, the singer claimed that all his valuable items and studio equipment worth millions of naira were stolen.
He also alleged that the group behind the attack had always intended to harm him, emphasising the importance of being cautious.
Sharing a clip of the burgled studio, the singer wrote, "Evil people around me. Thank God man is not God.
"Big God will do it again. ZehNation studio."
In another post, the singer wrote, "Trust nobody. If you are going out, carry your 'aje' with you. It has been a while that they had been trying to do this. They have always wanted to burst (rob) my studio. Hustle o, so that another man's property will not 'enter your eyes'. It is those that are close to me that did it. Hunger wants to kill them. They will beg me for help; yet, they will still come to steal from me."
PDP not strong in Sokoto - APC chair
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Chairman of the All Progressive Congress in Sokoto State, Alhaji Isa Sadiq Achida, speaks to ANIMASAHUN SALMAN about the recent rerun elections in the state
Your party, the All Progressives Congress, won the rerun election in Tambuwal West, the hometown of the immediate past governor. How were you able to achieve this?
We didn't only win in Tambuwal West, but in all four local government areas where the elections took place on that day. We won in Bodinga, Yabo, Shagari, and Tambuwal local government areas.
You can go and check the records; the PDP only won due to the level of rigging perpetrated during the last general election, which gave them an advantage ahead of this rerun. You can go and check the results; we won in all the local government areas where elections took place. With the rerun, our party; the APC, has proved to be the party on the ground in the state. We have cleared all the four local government areas. So, it is not a big deal.
The PDP, in their reaction to the conduct of the election, accused your party of irregularities. What will you say to that?
Irregularities by who, and from where? In which of the local government areas, or are they referring to all the local government areas? If they are referring to Tambuwal West, it is because they lost the election there, and it is a kind of problem that they (PDP) don't accept defeat.
They won one federal constituency and one state Assembly, and we didn't complain. So, because we won Tambuwal, they can claim it was due to irregularities. We won the other elections, but they were declared winners, and yet we didn't complain. We won fair and square in Tambuwal and that is all.
The Senate has said it would not allow any hike in the price of electricity that may add to the woes of Nigerians.
Two days ago, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed at a press conference in Abuja that Nigeria was not likely to sustain the current electricity subsidy.
He explained that the indebtedness of the country's power sector to electricity-generating companies (GenCos) and gas companies (GasCos) had risen to over N3tn.
He said, "Today, we owe a total of N1.3tn to the power generating companies, out of which 60 per cent is owed to gas suppliers. Today we have a legacy debt, before 2014, to the gas companies of $1.3bn; at today's rate, that is close to N2 trillion."
The Power minister added, "What we have made provision for in the 2024 budget for subsidy is N450 billion and we will require N2.9tn for subsidy. So can we afford it? We must be realistic. Can we afford it?"
Responding to the minister and the planned increase in electricity hike, the Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, said a minister can say a thing based on his evaluation. Still, the onus doesn't end at his doorpost.
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