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Comrade Timi Frank, former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to refuse any minimum wage proposal from the federal government that is under ₦250,000 per month.
Responding to reports that the Federal Government allegedly offered workers a new minimum wage of ₦105,000 during current tripartite negotiations, Frank stated that any amount below ₦250,000 is insufficient for Nigerian workers given the country's current socio-economic challenges.
In a statement from Abuja, Frank criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration for displaying double standards in salary adjustments, arguing that Nigerian workers deserve the same treatment as judicial officials.
The Bayelsa-born political activist highlighted that Tinubu recently proposed a bill to the National Assembly to increase the salaries and allowances of Supreme Court Justices, Appeal Court Justices, the President of the National Industrial Court, Judges of the Federal and State High Courts, and Grand Khadis of State Sharia Courts, among others, by 300%.
Frank pointed out that the National Assembly swiftly passed the bill, which now awaits the President's signature to become law.
Frank, who serves as the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and the Middle East, questioned the rationale behind significantly raising the salaries of a well-compensated government branch while offering only minimal increases to the ₦30,000 minimum wage that Nigerian workers have struggled with for the past five years.
“Why did the President send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly to effect a 300 per cent upward review in the salaries of Judicial Office Holders but set up a tripartite committee to negotiate a “starvation wage” (apologies to NLC President Joe Ajaero) for suffering Nigerian workers instead of a “living wage” he promised them on assumption of office in May last year?” he said.
He reiterated that workers are the engine room of the nation’s economy and that paying them a living wage will boost their morale to work diligently and even pay the supreme price in line of duty for the country’s development.