The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige stated that the demand by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, for an upward review of the national minimum wage is expected, adding that the federal government is carefully looking into it in order to come up with a suitable response.

Ngige disclosed this yesterday while when he received executive members of the Organisation of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA) in Abuja.

The minister said, “The other day, labour requested increased wages for workers and they have only done what they are supposed to do. Therefore, nobody will quarrel with them.

“At the appropriate time, we shall all sit down because what the labour is asking is for the re-negotiation of an existing Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA).

“And every CBA-based agreement is subject to re-negotiation at any given time that any of the partners requests it.”

Ngige, also dispel the rumour that the federal government was at loggerhead with the Nigeria labour congress

 He said, “It is wrong for people to think that whenever the labour makes such a demand, the nation is boiling. The labour in Nigeria has for the first time met a labour-friendly government under President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The government has put machinery in motion as we speak because I have got a letter as the Minister of Labour and Employment for my advice. We shall advise the government the way such a tripartite negotiation will be handled so that everybody will be satisfied without any industrial unrest.

“Government in this sense includes also the state and local governments whom such wages will be binding on. When government takes a decision, we will now move to another stage in the process of re-negotiating the CBA.”

The Minister stated that the Change mantra of the current administration is geared towards changing the way things are done for the better.

“We are in an era where due process supersedes every other. People can only perform their roles and give way for other people to also perform theirs.”

He further commended OTUWA for fulfilling its roles as envisioned by the ILO.

In his address, the OTUWA president, Comrade Mademba Sock, noted that three-decade-old organisation in 2015 took far-reaching decisions to revive and re-position OTUWA. One of which is the re-location its headquarters from Abidjan, Cote d’ Ivoire, to Abuja.