Constitution review: Minimum wage must remain on executive list, says NLC president

Ayuba Wabba, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), says the move to put minimum wage on the concurrent list is “condemnable”.

In March, NLC protested a bill before the house of representatives seeking to decentralise minimum wage.

Speaking at a public hearing organised by the senate on constitution review, Wabba said minimum wage must remain on the executive list.

“There have been recommendations to remove labour and the minimum wage from the exclusive list to the concurrent list, it will be condemnable to even contemplate taking that step,” the NLC president said on Thursday.

“Labour and minimum wage shall continue to be on the exclusive list. Local government autonomy, independent judiciary and legislative arms of government, electoral system, immunity vows, state and local government creation and a revenue sharing formula.

“We want full autonomy for our local government so that they can be recognised politically.”

Wabba also said public office holders should only enjoy immunity for only civil cases and not those that are criminal in nature.

“Labour demands that all political office holders should not involve immunity from prosecution of criminal cases, only for civil cases,” he said.

On her part, Lois Auta, a rights activist, said 15 percent of the seats in the federal, state and local parliament should go to qualified persons with disabilities.

“Section 42(4) of prohibition of discrimination needs to be interest. We want 15 percent of seats on the national and state houses of assemblies and local government houses to be reserved exclusively for qualified persons with disabilities – taking into account the different types of disabilities,” Auta said.

“Sign language interpretation and their means of artistic communication should be arranged in every strategic meeting and activities of the national assembly.”