₦airaland Forum

PressMyButton:
Must you lie to promote a fraud?

StOla:
Is it Tinubu that domiciled Anambra state funds in the bank where he has interests and was former board Chairman?

Is it Tinubu that invested Anambra state funds in the brewery he was a part owner?

You are not concerned about State Capture, you only wish it was your flawed candidate that became President, but we already know his standard is of the 18th century.

•Old wage expired March 31

•Abia, Taraba, Zamfara still paying pre-2019 wage

There are strong indications that workers will wait for a longer time to receive a new national minimum wage as negotiations have stalled amid excruciating economic hardship and mass suffering in the country.
In fact, the delay is allegedly caused by the Federal Government.

This came as Abia, Taraba and Zamfara states are allegedly still in breach of the 2019 National Minimum Wage Act which fixed minimum wage at N30,000 from the previous N18,000.

The implication of the stalled negotiations is that workers’ hopes for a pay rise ahead of the 2024 May Day scheduled for Wednesday have been dashed.

The new minimum wage ought to have taken effect on April 1, 2024, the old regime having expired on March 31.

Meeting
Sunday Vanguard’s checks revealed that the last meeting of the Tripartite Committee on the New National Minimum Wage, TCNMW, tasked with fixing the new wage, was held in the first week of April where stakeholders received the reports of the public hearings across the six geographical zones held on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

It was, however, gathered that the subcommittees have been meeting on other issues as directed by the TCNMW.

According to findings, at the first week of April meeting, members of the committee, that is, the government, labour and private sector employers, were directed to submit their written proposals to the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission, NSIWC, which serves as the secretariat to the TCNMW.

Sources informed that while Organised Labour, comprising Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and its Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, counterpart, has sent in its demand of N615,000 minimum wages, the Organised Private Sector, OPS, has equally sent in its proposal.

However, it could not be confirmed if the government has sent in its proposal.

Reports
Sunday Vanguard gathered that after the TCNMW received the reports of the public hearings, the NSIWC fixed April 16 and 17 as meeting dates for a review of the reports and probably commence negotiations, but, unfortunately, the dates turned out to be public holidays for Sallah celebrations.

Since then, Sunday Vanguard learnt that it (NSIWC) has not fixed a new date for a meeting where the actual negotiations would start.

Blaming the government for the delay, one of the labour leaders, who is a member of the TCNMW, said until the government through the NSIWC summons a meeting, nothing could be done.

He said: “The last meeting was in the first week of April when we met to receive the reports of the zonal public hearings.

“It was essentially to collate reports from the zones. We as Organised Labour, that is, the NLC and TUC, have sent in a joint proposal or demand if you like.

“We are aware that the OPS has equally sent in its proposal. We are all waiting for the reconvening of TCNMW meeting to know what the government is putting on the table for us to begin negotiations.

“But that is not to say we have been doing nothing or we have been idle. The various subcommittees, in line with the mandate of the main committee, have been working. We have a lot to discuss and negotiate about.

“The hike in electricity tariff is now an important factor. We had sent in our demand before the increase in electricity tariff.

“To worsen matters, the increase was done without stakeholders’ inputs contrary to the enabling Act. In other words, we were not consulted as required by law.

“All these issues will determine when and how long the negotiations will last. One thing is clear, no matter how long the negotiations take, the new minimum wage will definitely take effect by April 2024. Meaning the law will be backdated to April 2024. The implication is that a new minimum wage can’t be announced on May Day.”

Speaking also, the Director-General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, Adewale Smart-Oyerinde said a new minimum wage cannot be announced on May 1.

“We have not actually started real negotiations. The last meeting we had was when we received reports of the public hearings”, he told Sunday Vanguard.

“We were asked to send our proposals to the secretariat of the committee. We have done that as an Organised Private Sector, OPS. We believe others have sent in theirs. We are waiting for the reconvening of the committee for the negotiations to start. We are ready for the negotiations.”

Data
It was gathered, however, that parties are busy collating data across states, sectors and socioeconomic trends ahead of the commencement of negotiations.

A member of the OPS, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he foresees very robust and interesting negotiations because of the socioeconomic realities on the ground.

He said “As the socioeconomic realities affect workers, so also they affect employers. Nobody is immune to the hardships and socioeconomic realities including the recent hike in electricity tariff. So, the negotiations will be very interesting and robust.”

On his part, the immediate past President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, who spoke on the delay in concluding the minimum wage negotiations and non-implementation of the minimum wage by some state governments and private sector employers, said “The Minimum Wage Act of 2019 made clear provision on when negotiations should start and be concluded, which is six months to the expiration of a prevailing national minimum wage.

“Also there was a clear provision for enforcement in a court of law including payment of interest rate to the workers that have been denied payment of minimum wage.

“Before I left office in 2023, we had contacted Mr Femi Kuti, SAN, to prosecute Taraba, Zamfara and Abia states that refused to start implementing the N30,000 national minimum wage to any of their employees.
“I am sure they have not implemented as we speak.”

According to him, the process for taking these states to court was stalled because the affected state councils failed to provide the requirements especially pay slips of not less than 10 workers to prove non-implementation.

He added “Then-governors of the three states deliberately refused to implement and we were ready to engage them and test the law.

“We need to test the law to enforce implementation. In fact, we had to sack our state council chairman in one of the states when we discovered that he was conniving with the state government to stall implementation.”

Labour mulls upward review of proposal
Meanwhile, Sunday Vanguard understands that Organised Labour may present a new minimum wage demand following the recent hike in electricity tariff by the Federal Government.

According to sources, the 300 per cent jerk up in electricity tariff has made nonsense of its earlier N615,000 benchmark wage demand.

The Labour centres, NLC and TUC, had, last month, presented a joint minimum wage demand to the TCNMW through the NSIWC.
The joint presentation is contrary to what they (NLC and TUC leaders in the zones) proposed during March 7, 2024, zonal public hearings organised by the TCNMW across four of the six geo-political zones of the country.

One of the sources said: “The recent hike in electricity tariff has made nonsense of the demand we presented to the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission which is the secretariat of the minimum wage committee.

“Both centres had met in March to harmonise our different demands as seen during the public hearings and made a joint demand.

“But with the 300 per cent increase in electricity tariff, our demand is no longer realistic. Therefore, we plan to adjust our demand to accommodate the new tariff hike.

“As you are aware, our demand was based on the socioeconomic indices on the ground at the time we made the demand. But things have changed as typified by the 300 per cent hike in electricity tariff by the government.

“So, we have to adjust our demand by 300 per cent in line with the electricity tariff hike.”

N850,000 wage
Recall that while the TUC demanded almost a uniform figure of N447,000 across the zones, the NLC demanded different figures for each zone with the highest being N850,000.

In the South-West, whereas leaders of the NLC proposed N794,000, those of the TUC proposed N497,000.

In the South-East, the NLC said it preferred the new minimum wage to be N540, 000 and the TUC suggested N447,000.

However, NLC leaders in the South-South proposed N850,000, with their North-West counterparts angling for N485,000 minimum wage.

PressMyButton:
Why must Tinubu stoop that low?, he is in the league of his own, Tinubu only gives attention to consequential issues, he doesn't carry camera about and seek attention like Obi does. Many individuals in the same league as Reno have been ignored by Tinubu. There's not too wide a gap between Reno and Obi, both of them can continue their mud fight.

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has named Mr. Michael Nzekwe as his Chief of Staff and appointed Zonal Directors for each of the 14 Zonal Commands of the Commission.

Nzekwe, a distinguished investigator, lawyer, and former Commander of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC, holds the rank of a course one officer within the Commission.

He boasts a wealth of experience having served across various departments, including Legal and Prosecution, Operations (now Investigations), Internal Affairs (now Ethics and Integrity), Servicom, and Asset Forfeiture.

The commission made the announcement in a post on its social media handle on Saturday.

With a rich background in administration, Nzekwe has undergone numerous domestic and international training programs, notably including the Advance Defence Intelligence Officers Course organized by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).

His appointment is effective immediately, and he has already assumed his duties.

Olukoyede, in his restructuring and repositioning of the EFCC, equally upgraded all the Zonal Commands of the Commission to the status of Departments, with each of them headed by a Director. To this effect, 14 new Directors have been appointed to head each of the Zonal Commands.

Additionally, to bolster and fortify the security architecture of the Commission, the Security Unit of the EFCC has been upgraded to a Department with a seasoned officer appointed as Director, Security and Chief Security Officer.

A new Department has also been created in the Executive Chairman’s office and it is headed by former Makurdi Zonal Commander of the EFCC, Mr. Friday Ebelo, who also doubles as Director and Coordinator, Special Duties at the corporate headquarters of the Commission.

The former Department of Internal Affairs has been renamed Department of Ethics and Integrity and minor reshuffling effected in some Departments at the headquarters.

“An important component of the restructuring is the creation of a new Department to drive the Preventive Mandate of the EFCC. Olukoyede, in an unprecedented move, created the Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department to handle this all-important work of the Commission. The Department has commenced operations and its impact would be felt more across the country in a short while.”

Olukoyede says that the ongoing restructuring is meant for the repositioning and strengthening of the EFCC to deliver on its assigned mandate optimally.

Pbatmedia:
President Tinubu's call for unity and collaboration resonates deeply as we strive towards a brighter future together. Let's heed his words, listen attentively, learn from each other, and discover common ground.

PressMyButton:
No court of law has ever declared Tinubu guilty of any crime both home and abroad.
No schools, no power projects, no monorail project, no primary healthcare center, no housing programme. Obidients should be ashamed supporting and repackaging a failure.

mobisonkk2:
Destroyed him? You be mumu oo, Tinubu that is in Aso Rock? I know stupidity comes to you naturally.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for cancellation of the local government election in Oyo as it described it as a “sham which is capable of causing the pacesetter state untold disrepute if allowed to stand”.

It, thereby called on the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) to cancel the exercise and reschedule it for another day when it is ready to conduct a free, fair, and credible poll.

Reports from across the state indicate that cases of non-availability of election officials, disenfranchisement of eligible voters, shortage of voting materials, violence, and threat to life were recorded while the electoral commission appeared helpless to rescue the situation even as voters waited endlessly in most the places affected.


In a statement issued today and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC regretted that “another opportunity to deepen democracy and return power to the people at the grassroots has had to be missed due to the insensitivity and insincerity on the part of the ruling class in the state.

“With what is happening at the moment in most Polling Units across the state, Gov. Seyi Makinde has again disappointed the whole world. He promised the people that their votes would count today but the opposite is the case. The good people of the state desired to participate in an election to elect a new set of council officials but what they are experiencing is nothing but a sham.

“Even if OYSIEC comes out later to declare all the candidates of the APC, we would not rate this election as credible and acceptable as it falls below the minimum global standard of election conduct.


“The best thing is for the Commission to suspend the exercise and choose another date for proper conduct rather than continue to connive with a few anti-democratic elements in the ruling PDP to perpetrate electoral fraud and desecration of democracy in the land.

“For the avoidance of doubt, OYSIEC started with back and forth position on the need to deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) the for the conduct of the poll.

“Few days ago, the Commission recruited PDP members as its adhoc staff and this same set of people were saddled with the responsibilities of conduct today’s poll and they have been carrying out the script given to them by the powers-that-be in the state. What could be the rationale behind taking 500 pieces of ballot papers to a Polling Unit where about 1,500 registered as eligible voters?


“OYSIEC failed to mobile officials to attend to prospective voters in key polling units while it also released inadequate voting materials to virtually all the polling units. In most Polling Units, officials of the Commission did not arrive untill 12 noon when most voters had left for their respective homes in frustration. This aptly validated the suspicion that the PDP had handed a script to the Commission to implement in their favour.

“In the 10 local government councils of Oke-Ogun, the official result sheets known as Form EC8A were withheld by OYSIEC’s Electoral Officers while political thugs were unleashed on some members of the opposition who asked questions in places like Kajola, Olorunsogo, Itesiwaju, Ibarapa East, Lagelu, Ido, Oyo East, Atiba, Oluyole among others. The chairman of our party in Ibarapa East, Mr. Segun Ojediran, was violently attacked by the PDP thugs in Eruwa and he is now receiving treat in a private hospital.


“OYSIEC has failed to accommodate more than 80 per cent of the eligible voters in the state today and there is no way the meagre 20 per cent of people who were lucky to cast their votes in a lawful manner can decide the fate of the vast majority. Obviously, the Commission allowed a few people to cast their votes at the polling units while the balance of majority rights to vote was secretly handed down to the PDP. Any electoral victory given behind close door is illegitimate, tainted and unacceptable. Therefore, we call for the total cancellation of the whole exercise as it was done today,” APC alleged.

seunmsg:
You and who? Only senseless obidients will vote Peter Obi again and as usual, their votes are inconsequential and can’t make the Gbajue man president.

ZombieTAMER:
Tinubu is a drug dealer
How can he charge Reno to Court

I'm sure he shares it to his supporters
Because I don't see any reason someone will spend eight years praising Buhari and cap it up with Tinubu

Kingsmeal:
Glencore? During my training with a multinational fin. institution, this company came up as a corrupt company with cases of bribery. Big questions : Why is this government in bed with all known corrupt entities in the world? Na wah oo!

mobisonkk2:
The last kick of the dying horse after Reno Omokri single handedly destroyed obidient miscreants.

helinues:
You people should stop being petty.

Why do you like to over do things?

mohims:
Go and take your pills. That's my only advice to you

PressMyButton:
Surely, nobody else comes close to Reno. Reno Omokri singlehandedly demolished the lies and propaganda of Obi and his Obidient puppets, they have been crying hot tears everyday ever since Reno destroyed them.
Peter Obi built no schools, no power projects, no primary healthcare center , no airport, no housing estate, no monorail, name it. Obi believed what Anambra deserved was a beer company with a $30million investment capital of the state's treasury. Today, the investment brings no returns to the state. Imagine what $30million would have done if spent on critical infrastructure in the state.

helinues:
Make una stop being George Finidi wey get starting but no finishing.

Trouble go dey sleep dey snore, but una wan dey wake am up by force.

Make una stop this cheap pettiness

thesicilian:
Do you even know the meaning of woke? Obidients never disappoint

VinnyBaba:
This Olukayode EFCC Man Talks and behaves like a MARKET Woman.

All Tinibu's Y0ruba Appointees Looks so INCOMPETENT.