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Tag: minimum wage

  • House of Reps passes N30,000 minimum wage

    •Lawmakers seek six months jail, fines for defaulting employers

    The House of Representatives has approved N30,000 as minimum wage for workers in the public and private sectors.

    The lawmakers also increased the initial threshold for  public and private sectors workers in states and local governments from N27,000 proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari in the National Minimum Wage Act Amendment Bill to N30,000.

    The lawmakers also adopted stiff penalties for would-be defaulters when the bill is signed into law.

    Workers, labour unions and Labour  Minister Chris Ngige were also empowered to enforce the law should employers decide to breach the law.

    The Federal Government had in a House of Representatives public hearing on Monday revealed its intention to augment the balance of N3,000 to make it N30,000 for its workers.

    The Federal Government, however, emphasised  that states and the private sector are to engage workers’ unions and negotiate the minimum wage that should not be below N27,000.

    On sanction, if convicted, the employer, who fails to pay the new minimum wage, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five per cent of the offender’s monthly wage; pay all outstanding arrears of the workers’ wages and  pay an additional penalty of not less than the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lending rate on the wages owed for each month of the continuing violation.

    In addition, any employer that fails to keep records of wages or condition of employment of a worker on conviction would be liable to a fine not exceeding N75,000 and additional penalty not exceeding N10,000 for each day.

    Also, notwithstanding the provisions of the bill, anyone that hinders the authority of an authorised officer in the exercise of his powers under the bill or tamper with records and convicted is liable to a fine not exceeding N250,000 or imprisonment term not exceeding six months or both.

    However, not all categories of workers are to enjoy the new minimum wage as it shall not apply to employers with less than 25 workers; employers, whose workers are employed on part time basis; employers, who pay their workers based on commission; workers on seasonal employment such as agriculture and persons employed in a vessel or aircraft due to their peculiar regulations.

    The two recommendations of the Yussuff Lasun-ad hoc Committee as well as all the provisions of the bill as forwarded by Mr. President were adopted at the Committee of the Whole House, chaired by the Speaker and passed as amended at plenary  by the House.

  • Minimum Wage: NLC lauds House of Rep., urges Senate to align

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Tuesday commended the House of Representatives for adopting N30, 000 as the new National Minimum Wage and the quick passage of the bill.

    Mr Ayuba Wabba, NLC President gave the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abuja, while reacting to the passage of the National Minimum Wage bill by the House of Representatives.

    NAN reports that the National Council of State had on January 23, approved N27, 000 as minimum wage for federal, states and the organised private sector.

    NAN also reports that the NLC had rejected the N27, 000 minimum wage approved by the Council of State, maintaining that N30, 000 was the figure agreed at the tripartite negotiating meeting as the new minimum wage.

    Stakeholders had on Monday engaged the National Assembly at a public hearing to press home their demand of N30, 000 as the new national wage as agreed by the Tripartite Committee.

    According to Wabba, the passage confirms the wishes of the people and even the social partners.

    ”Because during the public hearing, organised private sector confirmed that N30, 000 was mutually agreed, and also all other sectors came in and said that it was N30, 000 that was mutually agreed.

    “So, clearly speaking, I think what happened at the National Assembly is just to uphold the wishes of the people and the Tripartite Committee, and also centrally to recognise workers contributions to national development.

    “We also plead with the Senate to follow the same path, so that it can be assented to and workers could begin to benefit from it.

    “I want to say that in this battle for the new national minimum wage, all of us are winners, nobody is a loser because really the centrality is what matter most,” he said.

    Also, Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, NLC General Secretary, said the lawmakers had done what the Nigerian people expect from them.

    He said in spite of efforts to support the position of the governors, it was clear from the public hearing that all stakeholders in the minimum wage wanted to be honorable.

    Read also: Buhari to Imo voters on guber contest: vote your choice

    According to him, at the public hearing on Monday, it was clear that all the major stakeholders wanted to be honourable by aligning with what was agreed through negotiation at the tripartite committee level.

    “We as organised labour maintained this position along with the Organised Private Sector, even the Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs said at the public hearing that they were part of the agreement.

    ‘‘However, it is the National Assembly that makes law, and the House of Representatives had demonstrated that; so, we are happy.

    “There is this aspect, which we are not comfortable with, which is the exclusion of those employers who have less than 25 in their employment. We think that is already being abused,” he said.

    He added that for instance a situation where secondary schools whose teachers are being paid less than a minimum wage, they will just organise a pay roll and ensure that they are not up to the number captured by the law.

    “There are some law chambers paying young lawyers N10, 000, which cannot even pay their transportation and they are hiding under the guise of not being captured by the law,” Ozo-Eson said.

    He, however, commended the House of Representatives and also urged the Senate to quickly do the needful by aligning with the House of Representatives on the matter. (NAN)

  • Reps pass N30, 000 minimum wage

    The House of Representatives has approved N30, 000 as minimum wage for workers.

    This followed the consideration and adoption of the report of the Yussuff Lasun-led ad hoc Committee that conducted a public hearing on the subject on Monday.

    The bill was also read the third time which now leaves it to the legislation action on the same bill by the Senate

    All the clauses of the bill were adopted by the lawmakers.

    Issues were however raised on the timing of signing the bill into law and the takeoff of the new salary regime.

    While giving a synopsis of the report, Lasun said it was at the hearing that it was actually discovered that the Federal government agreed to pay its own workers N30000.

    He also noted that it was discovered that the Executive bill needed not too many adjustment.

    He however raised concerns over the fate of employers with less 25 workers who were exempted for the new wage.

    He also noted that the tax aspect of the new wage needed to be examined as certain wage brackets that would henceforth increase to N200,000 and above would be required to pay tax.

    “So tax authorities should see if succor could be provided for certain levels of workers,” he added.

    All Clauses were carried by the lawmakers.

    While ruling Speaker Digara said: “This is the House of the people and this is the way businesses should be and we have effectively passed it subject to the passage of the Senate unless there are issues which may require a conference Committee “.

  • Minimum wage: Labour takes case to public hearing

    Labour was at the weekend busy mobilising its members to the public hearing being staged today by the House of Representatives on the National Minimum Wage Bill.

    Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba told reporters at the end of the Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Friday that Labour had mandated all its affiliates to mobilise en masse to attend the hearing to present their demand.

    Wabba said: “We have agreed to mobilise and engage on the issue, particularly at the level of the Nationalist Assembly and that the outcome of the negotiations be respected. We call on members of the National Assembly to do the needful.

    ”We have also put all our members on alert and if that is not done, we will mobilise to take appropriate action that is desirable to actually protect and ensure the sanctity of the minimum wage tripartite process. That has been the procedure from time past and inn tandem with the ILO provisions on minimum wage setting mechanism.

    “We have also agreed that in Monday, we will mobilise and attend the public hearing by the House of Representatives to make sure the right thing is done.

    “We call on all of them, being representatives of the people to respect the outcome of the tripartite negotiation process and importantly is the fact that when you look at N30, 000 in the context of today’s economy is a compromise position that ought to be commended.

    “Workers have been at the receiving end because when you put it side by side with the value of N18, 000 as far back as 2011 when the value was almost equivalent to 150 dollars. Today, even the N30, 000 is less than 100 dollars.

    ”We juxtapose all these arguments within the context of the reality on ground and therefore, we must demand that what was agreed mutually when all others have been put into consideration, including the ability to pay and all other factors, I think it should be respected as a tripartite process and a tripartite agreement.”

    The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) has mobilised its members to attend the public hearing saying it was in support of the decision by the NLC leadership.

    Rising from its National Executive Council meeting, the union said going contrary to the recommended N30, 000 new minimum wage portends serious industrial disharmony which would have dire consequences for the general elections.

    Other unions have mobilised to storm the public hearing to restate their position and insist on N30, 000 as agreed to by the tripartite committee, especially against the backdrop of a retraction by the Labour and Employment Minister Chris Ngige that the N27,000 contained in the bill submitted to the National Assembly was for all category of workers.

    The minister had earlier told newsmen that while N27, 000 was to be paid by state government end the public sector, the Federal Government will pay its workers N30, 000.

    But in a statement signed by the Assistant Director in the Labour Ministry Illiya Rhoda on Friday, the minister said all categories of workers are to earn the N27, 000 while those who can afford more should negotiate with their workers.

    A peep into the minimum wage bill sent to the National Assembly revealed that there was no mention of N30, 000 in the bill.

    Ngige had urged those dissatisfied with the N27, 000 to argue their case before the public hearing scheduled for today by the House of Representatives.

    The minister said: “As the matter of a National Minimum Wage is in the Exclusive Legislative List as item No. 34 of the Second Schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), it is therefore the Executive arm of Government that has the responsibility to prescribe a new National Minimum Wage and send to the National Assembly (NASS) for legislative action of getting the Bill passed and/or amended and reverting same to Mr. President for Assent like any other law of the nation.

    “It is important therefore, to use this medium to ask the different groups who have interest agreeing or disagreeing on the contents of the 2019 National Minimum Wage Bill already transmitted to NASS, to get ready to make their views known at the Public Hearing.

    “We wish the Nigerian workers well and thank the NASS for expeditiously treating the bill by letting it pass the first and second readings in one legislative day and also in setting up an urgent and ad hoc Committee to treat this matter in both Chambers very swiftly”.

  • Minimum wage brouhaha

    •Council of State meant well. All parties must show good faith in the country’s interest

    WHAT  organised labour will be disappointed at the recommendation of the Council of State on the new minimum wage would seem understandable. Briefing reporters at the end of its meeting on Tuesday, last week, labour and employment minister, Chris Ngige, said that the body gave its nod to a new minimum wage of N30, 000 for federal workers and N27, 000 for states and the private sector. Whereas Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) general secretary, Peter Ozo-Eson, insisted that the “council has no jurisdiction to determine a separate amount after a tripartite committee had adopted N30,000 as minimum wage and submitted its report to the Federal Government”, his counterpart in Trade Union Congress (TUC), through its president, Bobboi Bala Kaigama, says the “decision must not be allowed to stand because it will set a wrong precedence for the future, that is, after statutory bodies have done their jobs, the Council of State will now sit to review it”.

    The endorsement by the council obviously reflects the awareness of the difficult times ahead as governments across the federation will inevitably struggle to come to terms with the burden that will be imposed by the proposed wage. Far beyond rehashing the niceties of how the tripartite agreement came about – and which labour has often brandished like a joker – the position of the Council of State would appear another pointer to the need for that delicate balancing act between the pervasive insolvency that the states have experienced and continue to experience across the board and, the demand by organised labour for a fair and decent living wage.

    Indeed, like other stages that the process has had to pass through, we understand that the position of the council, being neither sacrosanct nor final, would still be considered by the National Assembly before passing into law the new minimum wage, hence what seems to us as unhelpful posturing by labour on what the advisory by the council portends. Although advisory, their concerns, drawing from experiences across the states, which often times seem lost to the organised labour, deserves consideration, particularly at this time.

    Overall, we must admit that a lot of progress has nonetheless been recorded despite the procedural hiccups that have trailed the process of evolving a new minimum wage. One such is the referenced landmark tripartite agreement, which although hotly challenged by the parties, has remained the basis for moving the process forward. Of particular interest is that it actually formed the basis of the draft legislation forwarded by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly last week, with the only sticking point being government’s insistence on N27,000 in the bill as against the N30,000 in the signed agreement.

    As it is, all eyes are on the National Assembly to produce a legislation acceptable to all parties. For both the organised labour and employers, particularly in the private sector, the process affords them an opportunity to further engage on what is fair, reasonable and affordable considering the state of the economy. It is heart-warming that the lawmakers have signalled that they are positively disposed to an expedited attention on the new minimum wage. Our only fear is what appears to be the lawmakers’ undue haste as we saw last week when the bill sailed into second reading in the House of Representatives, hours after it was transmitted to it. For something as important as the new minimum wage, surely the National Assembly cannot afford to sacrifice the dictates of due diligence for the expedience of haste, for the sole purpose of being seen in the good books of labour.

    For the already burdened states’ treasuries, where would the additional funds to pay the new wage come from? And will the new wage be sustainable? These are some of the issues we expect the lawmakers to address in their deliberations.  Perhaps they too are worried by guilty conscience arising from the humungous pay that they have awarded themselves.

    All said, we urge all the parties to demonstrate good faith on the issue in the coming days, knowing that the future of the economy is at stake.

  • …N27,000 is for all workers— Ngige

    The Federal Government said yesterday that the N27,000 minimum wage approved by the National Council of State and contained in the bill sent to the National Assembly is for all categories of workers in the country, both those in the public and private sectors.

    In a statement signed by the Assistant Director in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mrs Illiya Rhoda, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said the figure of N30,000 recommended by the tripartite committee was a mere recommendation.

    The minister told all “those who are not pleased with the figure contained in the bill to prepare and take their submissions to the public hearing organised by the National Assembly for that purpose.

    He said the recommendations of the tripartite committee were deliberated upon by all statutory organs of the constitutions which are recognised by law as advisory bodies to the President before the final figure was arrived at.

    The statement reads in part: “The attention of the Minister of Labour and Employment has been drawn to the various misrepresentations being given to the press briefing on the new national minimum wage, given at the Aso Villa on January 22, 2019, after the meeting of the National Council of State.

    “For avoidance of doubt, the minister wishes to clarify that national minimum wage is the minimum amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay wage earners (workers) at the lowest rung of the salary scale for the work performed during a given period.

    “At the expiration of the last National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, which was enacted in 2011, Mr. President constituted and inaugurated a tripartite committee on national minimum wage (TCNMW) in November, 2017, to consider the issue and recommend a new national minimum wage to the government.

    “The constitution of the tripartite committee was in consonance with the provisions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention Nos. 26, 99, and 131, as well as the guidance provided by the accompanying recommendations.

    “In a bid to achieve a holistic and democratic coverage, the prescribed tripartite structure went beyond the requirements of tripartism (the government and social partners) to extend to Tripartite – Plus in order to cover other stakeholders which included Nigeria Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), and National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME); in addition to the recognised employers’ Federation – the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).

    Read also: Minimum wage: NLC puts workers on red alert

    “It is very important to note that the constituted TCNMW was mandated by Mr. President to deliberate on the issue of a review of the National Minimum Wage and make recommendations for its upward review.

    “It is of utmost importance to note that any Public or Private Sector employer who is capable of paying more than the statutory Twenty Seven Thousand Naira (N27, 000.00) should be ready to do so even without subjecting the concerned workers to a tortuous negotiation by the applicable Negotiation Councils.

    “The Federal Government has taken the lead in this direction by proposing to augment the Twenty Seven Thousand Naira (N27, 000.00) National Minimum Wage of Federal workers by Three Thousand Naira (N3, 000.00) per month to bring it up to Thirty Thousand Naira (30,000.00) for the least paid worker per month.

    “It is important therefore, to use this medium to ask the different groups who have interest agreeing or disagreeing on the contents of the 2019 National Minimum Wage Bill already transmitted to NASS, to get ready to make their views known at the Public Hearing.

    “We wish the Nigerian workers well and thank the NASS for expeditiously treating the Bill by letting it pass the first and second readings in one legislative day and also in setting up an urgent and ad hoc Committee to treat this matter in both Chambers very swiftly”.

  • Minimum wage: NLC puts workers  on red alert

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday directed its members to be ready to take appropriate actions should the National Assembly fail to do the needful by affirming N30,000 as the new national minimum wage at state and federal levels.

    It said the National Assembly should uphold the recommendation of the tripartite committee which specified N30,000 as the new national minimum wage.

    President of the congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, told reporters at the end of an emergency meeting of the Central Working Committee of the congress yesterday that the International Labour Organization (ILO)  conventions guiding negotiations on minimum wage do not allow one party to change the figures agreed upon after negotiations.

    Read also: Minimum Wage: Committee N30,000 figure, was a mere recommendation – FG

    The process of changing the figure agreed upon after negotiations, he said, must follow the same process of negotiations in accordance with international best practices and in accordance with ILO conventions.

    He insisted that even the N30,000 agreed to by the tripartite committee was a compromise position for which labour should be commended as it is still less than 100 dollars if converted.

    Wabba said: “This is the resolution that has just been adopted by a meeting of the Central Working Committee of the Nigeria Labour Congress. The meeting deliberated on a one-item agenda which is the issue of the transmission of the national minimum wage bill to the National Assembly.

    “The meeting reviewed the whole situation, including the fact that what was agreed at the tripartite negotiation meeting of the review of the minimum wage was N30,000. It is actually out of place and out of procedure for that figure to be reduced to N27,000. “

  • Minimum Wage: Committee N30,000 figure, was a mere recommendation – FG

    The Federal Government said on said the figure of N30,000 recommended by the tripartite committee was a mere recommendation which is not cast on stone and therefore advisory to the President.

    In a statement signed by the Assistant Director in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mrs Illiya Rhoda, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige said the N27, 000 minimum wage approved by the National Council of states and contained in the bill sent to the National Assembly is for all categories of workers in the country both those in the public and private sector.

    While apparently reacting the position of organised labour rejecting the new figure, the minister ask all those who are not pleased with the figure contained in the bill to prepare and make their submission at the public hearing organised by the National Assembly for that purpose.

    He said the recommendations of the tripartite committee was deliberated upon by all statutory organs of the constitutions which are recognised by law as advisory bodies to the President, before the final figure was arrived at.

    The statement reads: “The attention of the Minister of Labour and Employment has been drawn to the various misrepresentations being given to the press briefing on the New National Minimum Wage, given at Aso Villa on January 22, 2019, after the meeting of the National Council of State.

    For avoidance of doubt, the Minister wishes to clarify that “National Minimum Wage is the minimum amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay wage earners (workers) at the lowest rung of the salary scale for the work performed during a given period.

    “At the expiration of the last National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, which was enacted in 2011, Mr. President constituted and inaugurated a Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage (TCNMW) in November, 2017, to consider the issue and recommend a new National Minimum Wage to the Government.

    “The constitution of the Tripartite Committee was in consonance with the provisions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention Nos. 26, 99, and 131, as well as the guidance provided by the accompanying Recommendations.

    Read also: NLC insists on N30, 000 minimum wage

    “In a bid to achieve a holistic and democratic coverage, the prescribed Tripartite structure went beyond the requirements of Tripartism (the Government and Social Partners) to extend to Tripartite – Plus in order to cover other stakeholders which included Nigeria Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), and National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME); in addition to the recognised employers’ Federation – the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).

    “It is very important to note that the constituted TCNMW was mandated by Mr. President to deliberate on the issue of a review of the National Minimum Wage and make recommendations for its upward review.

    “The output from the TCNMW was therefore never meant to be sacrosanct but to provide a guide for the Competent Authority (The Government) to take a final decision.

    “The ILO Conventions on Minimum Wage cited above succinctly stipulate that each Member State shall be free to decide the nature and form of the Minimum Wage Fixing Machinery, and methods to be followed in its operation. They further provide that before the Competent Authority takes the final decision on a National Minimum Wage, there should be full preliminary consultations with the most representative Organisations of employers and workers. This was done when Mr. President constituted and encouraged the work of the TCNMW.

    “The Report of the TCNMW asked Mr. President to note the figure of Thirty Thousand Naira (N30, 000.00)  recommended by the TCNMW by way of motion and not by consensus, and also to note the Federal Government figure of Twenty Four Thousand Naira (N24, 000.00).

    “Mr. President considered the Report in full and looked at the differing statistics/figures presented by everybody before he arrived at the figure of Twenty – Seven Thousand Naira (N27, 000.00) per month. I must reiterate that the output by the TCNMW was a recommendation and is not cast in stone, but advisory to Mr. President.

    “In conformity with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), three (3) Constitutional Bodies further considered the figures. They are: The Federal Executive Council (Section 146 – 147 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended); the National Economic Council (Section 153 and Third

    Schedule of same Constitution) and the National Council of States (section 153 and Third Schedule of same Constitution).

    “These are all advisers of Mr. President and he is required by the Constitution to take advice and consult these three Bodies on any Political, economic, Security, and other sundry issues of the nation requiring Presidential Consultations/Advice. These bodies are therefore qualified to further consider the recommendation by the TCNMW and advise Mr. President on the best national position that would be equitable and fair to all stakeholders on the matter of a new National Minimum wage.

    “It is not the National Council of States alone that considered these figures and the new bill. The job of these three bodies to Mr President are advisory and consultative in nature especially The National Council of State.

    “The recommended new National Minimum Wage of Twenty Seven Thousand Naira (N27, 000.00) is for all category of workers in Nigeria whether Public or Private Sector and is so contained in the new National Minimum Wage Bill.

    “The workers in the Public Sector are those working in the Federal, State, and Local Government tiers of Government. The National Minimum Wage is for workers occupying the lowest rung of the remuneration ladder on Grade Level 1 step 1, and are the most vulnerable segment of Nigerian workers.

    “It is of utmost importance to note that any Public or Private Sector employer who is capable of paying more than the statutory Twenty Seven Thousand Naira (N27, 000.00) should be ready to do so even without subjecting the concerned workers to a tortuous negotiation by the applicable Negotiation Councils.

    “The Federal Government has taken the lead in this direction by proposing to augment the Twenty Seven Thousand Naira (N27, 000.00) National Minimum Wage of Federal workers by Three Thousand Naira (N3, 000.00) per month to bring it up to Thirty Thousand Naira (30,000.00) for the least paid worker per month.

    “The Federal Government accordingly, expects others in the Public and Private Sectors to do the same, and if the financial capacity permits, employers can pay more than Thirty Thousand Naira (N30, 000.00) especially where their workers are very productive and the Private Sector is a very profitable enterprise.

    “As the matter of a National Minimum Wage is in the Exclusive Legislative List as item No. 34 of the Second Schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), it is therefore the Executive arm of Government that has the responsibility to prescribe a new National Minimum Wage and send to the National Assembly (NASS) for legislative action of getting the Bill passed and/or amended and reverting same to Mr. President for Assent like any other law of the nation.

  • LCCI: minimum wage, election may heighten inflation

    The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), yesterday warned that an upward review of minimum wage and election spending may heighten inflationary trends in the country.

    It said inflation will remain on the upward trajectory over the coming months unless the Federal Government formulates and implements  policies that will enhance non-oil sectors’s productivity to increase output and moderate inflation.

    Addressing reporters in Lagos yesterday, its President, Mr Babatunde Ruwase said the grosss domestic product (GDP) growth of 1.81 per cent is below the nation’s annual population growth of about three per cent and remains a cause for concern due to its wider implications for welfare, unemployment and poverty in the country.

    He said the group has not identitied with or endorsed any political party, and will never do so.

    As elections draw near, Ruwase said the economy and investors are faced with new challenges that will require some immediare adjustments.

    He warned that current weak economic fundamentals  are bad omen and urged the Federal Government to formulate and implement policies and programmes that will facilitate the growth of domestic and foreign investment to boost the economy.

    The LCCI chief also said   growing unemployment figure was a reflection that growth in the economy is still weak, fragile and not inclusive.

    “It is imperative therefore to sustain efforts to create the enabling environment to attract more private capital to boost investment and growth,” he said.

    Access to and cost of funds remain a big issue for many domestic investors, he added.

    “With commercial bank lending rate at between 20-35 per cent, the private sector especially the SMEs had challenges in accessing credit for their businesses. We note the efforts of government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Bank of Industry (BoI) to extend intervention funds to the private sector operators. We also commend the government for enacting the Secured Transaction in Movable Assets Act, 2017 (popularly called Collateral Registry Act 2017) and the Credit Reporting Act, 2017,” Ruwase said.

    He urged the government and its agencies to do more in making sure that credit is accessible to the private sector especially the SMEs.

     

     

  • New Minimum Wage Bill passes first reading in Senate

    The Bill, which was transmitted to the National Assembly on Wednesday, January 23, 2019, by President Muhammadu Buhari prescribed 27,000 as the minimum wage.

    Read Also: Buhari sends new National Minimum Wage Bill to NASS

    Seconding reading of the Bill is ongoing as the upper chamber suspended its rules to give the Bill accelerated consideration