N27,000 National Minimum Wage Bill passes second reading in Nigerian Senate

The National Minimum Wage Bill, 2019, which stipulates N27,000 as minimum

wage across the country on Thursday passed the second reading at the

Nigerian Senate .

Senators, who had to suspend their rules to pass the bill for first and

second readings, said they were committed to the expeditious passage of

the bill.

A total of 11 senators who spoke during the debate on the bill all

supported the passage of the bill.

Most of the senators said the N27,000 proposed was small, while others

expressed fears that some state governments might not be able to pay.

The Senate, after the second reading of the bill, raised an adhoc panel to

work on the bill and report back in two weeks.

The committee is headed by Senate Chief Whip, Sola Adeyeye, with seven

others as members.

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary,

said against some reports that the minimum wage for federal workers would

be N30,000, while that of state governments workers would be N27,000, the

amount proposed by the government across board is N27,000.

Although the national minimum wage would be N27,000, the federal

government said it could afford to pay N30,000.