President Bola Tinubu on Monday signed into law the newly approved National Minimum wage of N70,000.
He assented to the bill at a brief ceremony at the Council Chambers of the State House, Abuja and was attended by the leadership of the National Assembly and members of the Federal Executive Council.
The President, who was already presiding over the 9th Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of the year, kept the meeting on hold for the signing ceremony of the anticipated new Minimum Wage Bill.
Speaking after signing the bill into law, the President thanked the National Assembly for passing the bill expeditiously, saying “all I can say is thank you very much for the expeditious act”.
The President last week approved a new minimum wage of N70,000 for Nigerian workers and pledged to review the national minimum wage law every three years.
The Head of Service of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan, said this will help douse tension in the country and amongst workers.
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, appealed to the National Assembly to speed up the process of passing the amendment to the 2024 Budget, which is meant to fund the new minimum wage.
He noted the perfect timing of the new minimum wage law, noting that it is making life better for the Nigerian worker.
“It couldn’t have come at a better time than today, the President had indicated that you are likely to come and that he will put every assignment aside to welcome you and perform the signing ceremony.
“By the signing of this bill into law, the welfare of the Nigerian workers have been more than enhanced by more than 200percent, we are grateful for this and we also urge you that the budget which will also fund it, you should help us pass it expeditiously as you have done with this one”, Fagbemi said.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said: “It is indeed a very important occasion very historic one and a very significant one particularly at this time, Nigerian workers are getting a huge boost compared to what was there before and I can assure that in terms of implementation, every effort will be made to ensure that there is speedy, full implementation of this new all important Minimum Wage Act”.
