It is my pleasure to welcome you all to this very important event which is the inauguration of the Committee to negotiate the consequential adjustment in salaries arising from the approved new National Minimum Wage.

2. Let me begin by conveying, the goodwill message of Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who has, from his first day in office in 2015 expressed deep interest in the welfare of workers and believes that if the Government is to succeed in its fight against corruption, the Nigerian workers must be adequately remunerated.
3. It is in fulfilment of Mr. President’s commitment to issues concerning the welfare of Nigerian workers that he inaugurated the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage on 27th November, 2017.  The President at the inauguration of that Committee acknowledged that the Nigerian Worker, like his counterparts all over the world, remain vital to the growth and development of modern nations and underscored the need to ensure a fair and decent living wage for workers, anchored on the principle of social justice and equity.
4. The Tripartite Committee no doubt was painstaking in its assignment. Members met with various Stakeholders and interest groups, visited every part of the Country, holistically considered the state of the economy and finally came up with its recommendation of N30,000.00 (Thirty Thousand Naira) only as the new National Minimum Wage.  To further demonstrate Mr. President’s unwavering commitments to the welfare of all Nigerian workers, he signed into law, the new National Minimum Wage bill which recommended N30,000.00.  It must therefore be acknowledged that the outcome of the Tripartite Committee’s assignment is part of the reasons for this gathering today.
5. The President, out of a sense of fiscal responsibility and in seeking to use the budget as a tool for economic development, considered it necessary to appoint a Presidential Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) to advise on revenue optimization and a seamless implementation of the new wage and its consequential cost. I must add that Mr. President emphasized to that technical advisory committee to evolve ways of sustaining the new minimum wage in a manner that would guarantee all existing jobs. The Committee had also completed its assignment and submitted its report.
6. It is important to reiterate the President’s remarks at the signing of the new National Minimum Wage Act, 2019 that the signing of the Act would pave way for the constitution of another Committee to negotiate the issue of relativity/consequential adjustment arising from the new National Minimum Wage of N30,000.00 (Thirty Thousand Naira) only, with the relevant Labour Unions.  The purpose of this gathering is therefore to achieve that objective.
7. Government has carefully appointed members of the Committee under the Chairmanship of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as Alternate Chair. Other members from the side of government include:

(i) Honourable Ministers of Labour & Employment,

(ii) Honourable Minister of Finance,

(iii) Honourable Minister of Budget & National Planning,

(iv) Honourable Minister of Health,

(v)  Honourable Minister of Education,

(vi) Honourable Attorney General of the Federation & Minister of Justice

(vii) Director General, Budget Office of the Federation,

(viii) Secretary, Federal Judicial Service Commission

(ix) Secretary, National Assembly Service Commission,

(x) Chairman, National Salaries, Incomes & Wages Commission who is to serve as Member/Secretary.

8. On the side of the Trade Unions, ten representatives have been nominated by the Joint National Public Service Negotiation Council as members of the Committee.
9. The primary mandate of the Committee will be to negotiate the consequential adjustment in salaries arising from the new national minimum wage. I have no doubt in my mind that you have abundant literature, reports and other materials to help this assignment. The duration of the assignment is Four (4) clear weeks from this inauguration.
10. It is expected that the Committee will work assiduously to complete the assignment. I, urge the Committee to amicably consider the issue of relativity and consequential adjustment with thoroughness, bearing in mind the welfare of the nation’s workforce vis-à-vis the current economic reality.
11. On this note, Chairman and Members, I hereby formally inaugurate the Committee to negotiate the consequential adjustment in salaries arising from the new National Minimum Wage.
12. I thank you for your kind attention.

*An address by Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation at the inauguration of the Committee to Negotiate the Consequential Adjustment in Salaries arising from the New National Minimum Wage held on Tuesday, 14th May, 2019 at the SGF Conference Room, Shehu Shagari Complex, Abuja.