As result of the continued free fall of Naira against the US Dollar that has increased cost of living civil servants under the aegis of the Association of of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCEN) are asking for an upward review of minimum wage to reflect the rising cost of living as a result of continued slide in the Naira value.
The secretary-general of ASCEN, Basir Lawal, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Lagos that the current N18,000 minimum wage is not longer feasible.
Lawal said the new wage being sought by workers was arrived at after the association’s meeting with the National Public Service Joint Negotiating Council (NPSJNC).
“In the past one year, we presented a proposal for salary review to the Federal Government but the government said that the price of crude oil had fallen.
“We argued that if the price of crude is 30 dollars per barrel and the resources of the country are well managed, money will be enough to pay workers decent salaries.
“From the memo we submitted to the NPSJNC, we computed what it will take for an average worker to survive and we arrive at N66, 000.
“So we took 75 per cent of that and we arrived at N46, 000 minimum wage,” he asserted.
The ASCEN scribe added that the joint negotiation council used the table for the payment of N18, 000 minimum wages to arrive at the N46, 000 being demanded.
He said: “If the government believes that the amount will create crisis, we will tell them what to do to ensure that everybody will be carried along.’’
He pleaded with government to show understanding with workers on their demand and do the needful, to make life worth living for Nigerian civil servants.
Lawal asked government to also appoint manageable number of special advisers and ministers to reduce cost adding that goverment should use the revenue made from the sale of oil to improve the standard of living of the Nigerian workers rather than paying them ‘slave wages’.
He further advised President Muhammadu Buhari to set aside a percentage of the Nation’s budget as savings for the rainy day.
The unionist recommended that size of the Buhari cabinet should not exceed 30 ministers that would give their best to the development of the country which according to him would also reflect in workers welfare.
Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, had few days ago said that N18,000 minimum wage currently in force is not longer reasonable following the increasing rate at which Naira fall against the US Dollar.
