The Presidency on Thursday denied reports that the Federal Government was proposing N105,000 as the new minimum wage.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described the report as false.
The report followed the presentation of the cost implications of implementing a new national minimum wage to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa on Thursday.
The Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, submitted the template to the President alongside the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu. 0:00
Edun confirmed submitting the template to the President and reassured that ‘there is no cause for alarm’ when questioned about the figure.
Tinubu was said to be currently reviewing the proposal, and an official announcement is expected soon.
However, the development triggered speculations that the finance minister proposed N105,000 in the new minimum wage template.
Onanuga punctured the claim in a post on his X account.
The presidential aide wrote, “The Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, has not proposed N105,000 minimum wage. The contrary story being disseminated is false.”
Meanwhile, the meeting of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage was again adjourned till Friday (today) due to the unavailability of the cost template on the new minimum wage.
This was the second time in 24 hours that the committee session had been postponed.
On Wednesday, the Federal Government and Organised Labour adjourned the minimum wage talks till Thursday in anticipation of the template.
On Tuesday, Tinubu directed the finance minister to present the cost implications for a new minimum wage within two days.
The President gave the order at a meeting with the government negotiation team led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, at the presidential villa in Abuja.
Though the finance minister submitted the template to the President earlier on Thursday, the proposal was not presented to the Federal Government and Labour representatives, who met for over two hours and adjourned their session until today. (THE PUNCH).
