Presidency Speaks On New Minimum Wage

The Presidency has said the new national minimum wage negotiations are ongoing.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this on Friday while speaking with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The presidential aide noted that the Tinubu administration is poised to arrive at a new minimum wage all the states of the federation can afford.

Ngelale said the federal government also wants the new wage pegged at a number that is sustainable over a number of years and founded on the long-term stability of the Naira.

The presidential aide, however, warned that the efforts to arrive at a new minimum wage would get to a “moot point, nullity…if we do not get a firm grip on the value of our currency.”

He also announced that more than N150bn is being disbursed from the Bank of Industry and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency while also approved is the single-digit interest rate loans of up to N2m to hundreds of 1000s of small and medium scale enterprises across all local government areas of the Federation.

Ngelale added that Tinubu is prioritising intervention of N75bn to 75 industries and manufacturing companies with a staff strength of over 1000 workers to ensure necessary support is given to such firms, thereby expanding their hiring strength.

He said: “We want to ensure that those industries and sectors that are massively employing our people are those industries that are prioritised concerning government intervention, which is why the President has approved over N75bn to be dispersed to 75 large-scale manufacturers across all states of the Federation.

“These will be manufacturers who employ over 1000 Nigerians in each of their facilities and industries. We are going to ensure that they have the support that they need on a large scale so that Nigerian families who rely on these large-scale businesses are protected.

“We want to see our large-scale industries not just refuse to fire people but actively increase and expand their hiring at this difficult time.”