Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume on Monday met with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja where he vowed that there was no half-measure on the part of the central government in implementing the new national minimum wage.
Akume who spoke to State House Correspondents after the closed-door meeting said he was excited that most Governors have since commenced the implementation with some paying slightly higher the N70,000.
“The issue of the new minimum wage has always been central to the thinking of the Government of President Bola Tinubu and that was why he quickly assembled. The Government put in place a tripartite arrangement to look at all the issues, and this was properly carried out.
“The Governors were represented. The federal government was represented. The organized private sector was also part of it. So well arrived at the new minimum wage,” the SGF noted.
Akume expressed satisfaction with the compliance level so far, adding that the increased wage above N70,000 by State Governors is commendable and should be encouraged.
“We are very satisfied with it. And, some State Governments have started implementing, others have even gone beyond N70,000. So I believe that there’s no problem with that whatsoever,” he added.
The SGF appealed to other Governors who are yet to announce the minimum wage to do so and begin the payment.
He noted that “We applaud those who have started, those who have not started. We just want to appeal to them to start the payment.”
“Quite, quite frankly, the federal government is totally committed. Today is full. There’s no half major about this at all. It’s full, okay”. The SGF added.
Akume told reporters that he was at the Villa to discuss with President Tinubu on matters of State.
“We are just talking about matters of State,” he noted.
