Tinubu To Attend NEC Meeting As Governors Debate Minimum Wage, Council Autonomy, Taxes

Ahead of Thursday’s National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, governors, Wednesday night, agreed to adopt a common agenda on some of the issues currently bothering the nation.

The President is however scheduled to attend the NEC meeting on Thursday.

This was disclosed by his Chief of Staff, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila. He made public the plan for the President to make an unusual call at the NEC, a meeting statutorily chaired by the Vice President with membership including  the  state governors,  Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Finance Minister and other relevant top government officials.

According to the agenda of the meeting of the governors held Wednesday night, and made available to newsmen, they would discuss the minimum wage, and council autonomy amongst others.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting stepped down discussions on the minimum wage to enable further discussions.

The tripartite committee set up by the president recommended a minimum wage of N62,000, but the organised labour insisted on a N250,000.

Though the governors, a fortnight ago, had insisted that they could not pay more than N60,000, some of them alluded to their inability and economic viability to pay. 

Other issues considered at their meeting on Wednesday were the local government autonomy and the petroleum profit tax.

The Supreme Court had last week reserved judgement in a suit filed by the federal government against the governors to enforce the autonomy of administration of local government areas as stipulated in the Nigerian constitution.

Garba Lawal, who led a seven-member panel of Justices of the Supreme Court, reserved judgement after all parties adopted their various written addresses.

Also on the agenda on the excess crude account and the Royalties Accounts and its Reconciliation and Debt matters.

In their agenda, the governors said they would review and take a position on all the issues last night at NEC.

Though the meeting was slated for 7pm on Wednesday, they were yet to commence as of press time.

THISDAY, however, gathered they were holding separate meetings elsewhere on partisan level to agree on a common position to be taken at their main meeting.

Gbajabiamila spoke in Kano on Wednesday while leading a high-powered presidential delegation to commiserate with Vice President Kashim Shettima over the demise of his mother-in-law.

Delivering the President’s condolence message to Shettima, Gbajabiamila disclosed that President Tinubu would be attending the scheduled NEC meeting holding on Thursday, describing the plan as unusual.

According to him: “He is indeed saddened and he wished he was here with you know our President is very ubiquitous, he can be in a million places at the same time, but unfortunately, this bill, as you well know, calls for him to be at the seat of power.

“Indeed he will be joining you tomorrow and that’s how important his presence in Abuja is right now. He will be joining you tomorrow at the NEC meeting, which he ever hardly attends, this might even be his first meeting”.

Recall that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had at its meeting on Tuesday stepped down presidential decision on the report of the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage down, citing the need for President Tinubu to make further consultations with other stakeholders on the important national matter.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, while addressing journalists at the State House after FEC meeting on Tuesday disclosed the decision of Council to step minimum wage discussion down until needed consultations have been made.

He had said: “I want to inform Nigerians here that the Federal Executive Council deliberated on that and the decision is that because the new national minimum wage is not just that of the federal government, it is an issue that involves the federal government, the state governments, local governments, and the organised private sector and of course, including the organised Labour.

“That memo was stepped down to enable Mr. President to consult further, especially with the state governors and the organised private sector, before he makes a presentation to the National Assembly, before an executive bill is presented to the National Assembly.

“So I want to state that on the new national minimum wage, Mr. President is going to consult further so that he can have an informed position because the new national minimum wage, like I said, is not just an issue of the federal government. It affects the state governments, it affects the local governments, it also affects the organised private sector, and that is why it is called national minimum wage. It’s not just an affair of the federal government.

“So, Mr. President has studied the report and he’s going to consult wider before a final submission is being made to the National Assembly”, Idris said.

Chuks Okocha

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