The Presidency on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of President Bola Tinubu delivering an address at the joint sitting of the National Assembly to commemorate 25 years of nation’s democratic rule scheduled for Wednesday in Abuja.

In a statement issued by presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, the Presidency stated that office of the President was never involved in the planning of the event, hence no green light was given for the President to speak at the planned programme.

It, however, stressed that President Tinubu will continue to inaugurate projects across the country as part of his commitment to delivering good governance to the citizenry.

The Presidency in the three-paragraph release stated: “In furtherance of his commitment to delivering good governance, President Bola Tinubu has embarked on the inauguration of strategic projects across the country.

“More transformative projects will be inaugurated by President Tinubu’s administration for the benefit of all Nigerians.

“In view of public commentary concerning the President delivering a speech before a Joint Sitting of the National Assembly tomorrow, May 29, 2024, it is important to state that this information is false and unauthorized as the Office of the President was not involved in the planning of the event”.

The Tripartite committee on minimum wage has postponed its meeting “sine die”, sources familiar with the matter told our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, sine die means a situation, “without any future date being designated (as for resumption): indefinitely.”
Legal choices, a law website also describes sine die as a Latin word used when a law case has no fixed date for resumption.

The Federal Government on Tuesday added a sum of N3,000 to its initially proposed N57,000 minimum wage making it the sum of N60,000 proposed on Tuesday during the meeting of the tripartite committee on minimum wage in Abuja.

Organized Labour comprising of the Trade Union Congress and the Nigeria Labour Congress also went down by N3,000 from its last proposal of N497,000 during the last minimum wage meeting.

Speaking with our correspondent, one of the sources who is a leader of the NLC said, “The meeting ended in a stalemate and meetings have been adjourned sine die.

The government proposed N60,000 which was not accepted by Labour.”

A member of the Labour side who spoke to our correspondent before the meeting started noted that the organized Labour would only go lower if the government goes higher on its demands.

Speaking with our correspondent, one of the sources who is a leader of the NLC said, “The meeting ended in a stalemate and meetings have been adjourned sine die.

“The government proposed N60,000 which was not accepted by Labour.”

A member of the Labour side who spoke to our correspondent before the meeting started noted that the organized Labour would only go lower if the government goes higher on its demands.


“This is simply a case of if they go higher, we will go lower. They need to propose something reasonable for us to propose something lower too. There is no two-way about it. Also, we have a way of meeting ourselves as members of the Labour before each committee meeting. This will help us to take a uniform stand by the time we get to the meeting front. So as long as the government is ready to present something reasonable, we will meet them in the middle,” the Labour leader said.

Indications emerged yesterday that the Federal Government and organised labour are heading for a showdown over a new minimum wage as the 6th meeting of the Tripartite Committee on the new National Minimum Wage, NNMW, ended in another stalemate. 

Organised labour’s negotiating team for the second time in two weeks, however, walked out of the committee meeting after the Federal Government increased its offer to N60,000 from the N57,000 it offered on Wednesday, May 22.

Organised Labour, represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and its Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, counterpart, had on May 15, walked out of the tripartite committee meeting after the government offered N48,000 and Organised Private Sector, OPS, offered N54,000, against the N615,000 minimum wage demand by labour.

It will be recalled that at last week’s meeting, the government and the private sector offered N57,000, while Labour reduced its demand from N615, 000 to N497, 000.

However, at the resumed meeting yesterday, the government and the OPS added N3,000 to last week’s offers of N57,000, thereby raising their offers to N60, 000.

Labour immediately followed the footsteps of the government and OPS to reduce its demand by N3,000, bringing it down to N494, 000 before walking out.

Labour had given government up till May 31, to conclude negotiations to avoid industrial disharmony.
Confirming the development, President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, told Vanguard yesterday: “The government is not serious with the negotiation. They just added N3, 000 to their offer last week.

The painful aspect of it is that the government team is not giving explanation to its offer. We equally removed N3,000 from our demand and left.”

Pending ultimatum

On the next line of action, the NLC president said: “We have an ultimatum pending on the minimum wage and electricity tariff. We are waiting for the ultimatum, including the government. 

“There are still days remaining before the ultimatum expires. Well, it is part of negotiation. Nonetheless, like I said, the government team is not serious. On our part, we know what to do when the ultimatum expires.”

Giving more insight into what transpired at yesterday’s stalemated meeting, a source at the meeting said: “We walked out again. They (the Federal Government) added N3,000. We reduced by N3,000.
“We anticipated what they are doing, we anticipated that they will come up with another gimmick because we have been telling them, break down what you are giving as an award, break it down the way we broke our own down.

“Housing, food transportation, health, education and others but they have refused consistently. This is because if they break it down, are they going to now say food is N100?

“For you to put everything under N57,000 or N60,000 as it is now per month, you cannot put food per day at N200. If you put food per day at N200, that will be N6,000 multiply by four, that should be N24,000. What is left now is N36, 000.

“You cannot say transport is N50 because once they commit themselves to it, they are now telling Nigerian workers that what we are giving you for transport is N50 in a day, what we are giving you for housing is so, so and so. That might put them in a very tight corner. They cannot break it down.
“We are telling them that what they gave us in 2019 was N30,000. At that time, the value of N30,000 was $84.

“When we got to the meeting today (yesterday), they increased from N57,000 to N60,000, then the organised private sector aligned with them. We did not want them to adjourn because we are heading for strike from the first of next month (June).I do not think they can reconvene before that time. That is where we are.”

On the mood of government team when it was making the offer, the source said: “The government side is not even in a good mood. Members know that they are in a very difficult situation. At the last meeting, we told them they are not government and that they should not make it appear as if they are government.

“They are only representatives of government. Today (yesterday), when we were discussing with them, we said a loaf of bread is now N2,000. So, even if somebody is eating bread every day, how much would it cost in a month?”

The source said the government team, as usual, pushed the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, to announce the N60,000 offer in the presence of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Budget.

‘’The Head of Service was represented by a Permanent Secretary in the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Office. 

He said: “The governors were not represented at today’s (yesterday) meeting again. They are running away. What we have observed is that the governors don’t want to get involved because they do not want to pay.

“For me, what is happening is a new development because they are trying to tell us why government will not be able to pay and the private sector is telling us how their productivity has been eroded and how so many of them have closed down.

‘’If we follow this very well, it changes the approach to governance. That is a situation where you don’t carry many people along.”

Labour’s demand may endanger job security — OPS

On his part, the spokesperson of OPS, and Director-General of Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, insisted that the major concern of members of the OPS was job security, pending when the economy improves.

He said: “It is important to note that what the committee was constituted to negotiate is a new national minimum wage and not maximum, that could be termed the “floor” wage, below which no employer should pay. 

“Employees should be able to navigate their paths toward higher wages through increased productivity and value addition.

“In the last three years, hundreds of companies have exited the country, shut down or changed business models. These companies include Jubilee Syringe Manufacturing, JSM, Procter & Gamble, Unilever Nigeria Plc, PZ Nigeria Plc, GSK Nigeria Plc, Sanofi Pharmaceuticals, Bolt Food, Nampak, Microsoft, Jumia Food, Equinor (oil & gas), Mayor Biscuits Company Limited, Greif Nigeria, among others, with many other multinational companies declaring over N1trillion in combined losses.

“According to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, about 767 manufacturing companies were shut down and over 335 experienced distress in the country in the last three years.

‘’In addition to this is a burgeoning N350 billion worth of unsold inventory of manufactured goods, of which the same fate is faced by Small and Medium Scale industries, SMEs. The private sector is on the precipice of collapse, with massive consequences for jobs.”

He pleaded with the “committee to refocus its effort on protecting jobs, boosting the capacity of the private sector to create more jobs and ensuring sustainability and ability to pay. 

“According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the combined rate of unemployment and time-related underemployment as a share of the labour force population (LU2) increased to 17.3 per cent in Q3 2023 from 15.5 per cent in Q2 2023.

“In specific terms, the unemployment rate increased significantly in Q3 2023 at 5.0 per cent. With these figures, more efforts should be concentrated on keeping more people in employment, while the government continues to implement its planned interventions in transportation, food security and general macro-economic stability.

“With organized businesses declaring over N1 trillion in combined losses and many shutting down their businesses for different reasons, while others are relocating to other climes, the ability to pay the prevailing N30,000 was already compromised.

“It will be practically impossible to guarantee enterprise sustainability and job security with the current demands of organized labour.

“Notwithstanding ongoing challenges, made worse by rising interest rates, astronomical logistics cost, increasing energy tariff and multiple taxes, levies and fees, the private sector remained committed to supporting the welfare of workers and the protection of their jobs, which can only be guaranteed by the survival of the enterprise.’’

Meanwhile, a member of OPS, however, informed Vanguard that the meeting was adjourned after yesterday ‘s deliberation, saying the labour negotiating team said members were going for consultations.

‘’So, the meeting was adjourned,’’ he said.

On when the meeting would reconvene, he said: “Only the secretariat of the committee can fix a date for the meeting. That has been the practice; it will inform us when to reconvene.”

ONE YEAR OF TINUBU ADMINISTRATION: EX-PRESIDENT BUHARI CONVEYS GOOD WISHES TO PRESIDENT.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari extends his best wishes to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the completion of his first year in office.

The former President appealed to all citizens to continue to strengthen the thread of national unity and goodwill.

He also appealed to them to give their blessings and support to the Tinubu administration so that it can succeed in its efforts to build a Nigeria of our dreams.

President Buhari expressed his wish for a successful tenure in office by the Tinubu administration.

Signed:
Garba Shehu.
28-5-24.

Wale Edun, minister of finance, says economic instability forced 800 companies to shut down operations.

Edun made this known on Tuesday in Abuja during the sectoral report of President Bola Tinubu’s one year in office.

The minister said the departure of these companies was not sudden.

He said issues such as market instability, unfulfilled promises, and contract breaches drove them away, but these issues have now been resolved.

“Government did inherit an unstable economy,” Edun said.

“The 800 companies or so did not make up their minds overnight. They stayed until they could stay no more.

“The conditions which sent them packing are no more. Those conditions were a foreign exchange market that was in no way fit for purpose.

“There was no liquidity. They were a general economic regime marked by instability, broken promises, lack of adherence to contracts.”

Edun said the new environment for investors involves tackling inflation, which will eventually result in lower interest rates.

This, he said, will allow investors to leverage the dynamic domestic markets to enhance their equity and invest.

On March 6, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) said 767 manufacturers shut down operations, while 335 became distressed, in 2023.

Dele Momodu, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has called on President Bola Tinubu to bring in capable individuals who can help address the nation’s challenges into his cabinet.

Speaking with journalists on Tuesday in Lagos, Momodu acknowledged the difficult times many Nigerians have faced over the past year and urged Tinubu to invite people with fresh ideas to help turn things around.

According to Momodu, the President needs to do more to meet citizens’ expectations, stressing that Nigeria is blessed with some of the greatest human beings scattered across the globe.

He advised Tinubu to find and bring these individuals into the government.

“The best way to get a second term by any leader is when you have performed in the first term,” Momodu said, adding “My honest advice, borne out of patriotism, is that you urgently get the best people on board.”

The publisher further urged the president to surround himself with people who would provide honest feedback, warning against the culture of sycophancy which he described as an albatross to good governance.

Momodu also called on Tinubu to solve the energy crisis in the country which he believes is crucial for propelling development, stating: “Until we solve the energy crisis, I don’t think we will be ready to join the comity of other nations in their march towards advancement.

“We also need to declare a state of emergency in infrastructure, education, food security, and overall security.”

…says trial- and-error economic policies won’t work

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, has said President Ahmed Tinubu’s one year rule hasn’t produced tangible results because he unleashed reforms without an implementation plan.

Atiku said this in an article he made public on Tuesday. He recalled that “On May 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu raised the hopes of Nigerians with his pledge to ‘remodel our economy to bring about growth and development through job creation, food security and an end of extreme poverty.”

He explained that since making this pronouncement, Tinubu has also spoken about growing the economy at double-digit rates to US$1 trillion in six years, ending misery, and bringing immediate relief to Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis.

According to the former Vice President noted that on listening to this, Nigerians must have breathed a sigh of relief after their experience with ex-President Buhari’s 8 years of economic misadventure.

He, however, said, “Tinubu laid out no plans for the ‘remodeling’ of the economy but soon embarked on a cocktail of policies to achieve it.

“In May 2023, he eliminated PMS subsidies, and a month later, the CBN implemented a new foreign exchange policy that unified the multiple official FX windows into a single official market.

“More policies followed in rapid succession: the tightening of monetary policy to reduce Naira liquidity, a hike in monetary policy rates, the introduction of cost-reflective electricity tariff, and a cybersecurity tax.

“Predictably, 12 months on, Tinubu’s pledge of growing the economy and ending misery remains unfulfilled.

“His actions or inactions have significantly worsened Nigeria’s macroeconomic stability. Nigeria remains a struggling economy and is more fragile today than it was a year ago.

“Indeed, all the economic ills – joblessness, poverty, and misery – which defined the Buhari-led administration have only exacerbated.

“Africa’s leading economy has slipped to the 4th position lagging behind Algeria, Egypt, and South Africa. Citizens’ hopes have been dashed (and not renewed contrary to the propaganda of the administration) as Nigeria’s economic woes have multiplied.

Giving an analysis of how he thinks Nigeria got to this sorry state, Atiku said, “In my press statement on the state of our economy, earlier this year, I expressed my concerns about the downside risks of unleashing reforms without sequencing;

“…without any ideas on how to implement them; and without any regards to their potential and real devastating consequences. Implementing policies without proper planning and a clear destination is nothing other than trial-and-error economics.

“My concerns have not diminished. I will focus on just four areas to underscore those downside risks associated with Tinubu’s reform measures and their dire consequences on Nigeria’s medium to long-term growth and development.

“First, President Tinubu’s policies do not create prosperity. Instead, they pauperize the poor and bankrupt the rich.

“They spare no one. Nigerian citizens, the majority of whom are poor, are going through the worst cost-of-living crisis since the infamous structural adjustment programme of the 1980s.

“The annual inflation rate at 33.69% is the highest in nearly 3 decades. Food prices are unbearably higher than what ordinary citizens can afford as food inflation soared to 40.53% in April, the highest in more than 15 years.”

He further said, “Nigerian citizens have to pay 114% more for a bag of rice, 107% more for a bag of flour, and 150% more in transport fares relative to May 2023. Today, in some locations, motorists are paying 305% more for a litre of fuel.

“Yet, on a minimum wage of the equivalent of US$23 per month, Nigerian workers are among the lowest wage earners in the world. Tinubu had the ‘courage’ to remove subsidy on PMS;

“…and impose additional taxes on his people but lacks the compassion to raise the minimum wage or implement a social investment programme that would reduce the levels of vulnerability, and deprivation of workers and their families.

“Second, President Tinubu’s policies create a hostile environment for businesses, big or small. The private sector is overwhelmed by Tinubu’s dismal policies and overburdened by his failure to address the policy fallouts.

“The manufacturing sector, which holds the key to higher incomes, jobs, and economic growth, has been bogged down by rising input prices, higher energy and borrowing costs, and exchange rate complexities.

“For example, since 2023, the average price of diesel has doubled to N1,600 per litre. Electricity tariff has recently been increased by 250% from N68/Kwh to N206/Kwh.

“As reported by the Guardian (13 May 2024), in Q1 of 2024, energy prices were up by 70%, costing manufacturers N290 billion.

“Since May 2023, corporate Nigeria has lost more than a dozen enterprises to other countries. Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Procter & Gamble (P&G), Sanofi-Aventi Nigeria, Bolt Food, Equinor, among others had exited Nigeria citing reasons including foreign exchange complexities, security concerns, and high operational costs.

“According to the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), nearly 20,000 jobs may have been lost due to the departure of 15 multinational companies from Nigeria.

“Those enterprises that remain are struggling to survive. Vanguard Newspaper (20 May, 2024) reported a significant rise – to nearly 30% – in unsold goods in the warehouses of manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods, occasioned by the rising cost of living and declining purchasing power of the citizens.

“According to the Guardian, manufacturers reported in Q1 a 10% drop in capacity utilization, a 10% drop in production, a 5% drop in investment, and more than 7% drop in sales.

“The Daily Trust (1 May, 2024) quoted Dangote lamenting that nearly 97% of manufacturing concerns in Nigeria will be unable to pay dividends this year.

“In an economy with high rates of unemployment, a declining manufacturing sector cannot be an option.

“Third, President Tinubu’s foreign exchange policies have not had any positive impact on Nigeria’s foreign trade balance, contrary to policy expectations.

“In particular, the free-float and the resulting devaluation of the Naira has not resulted in an appreciable improvement in Nigeria’s trade balance.

“Devaluation has not enhanced the competitiveness of local producers and has had no positive impact on exports of goods, primary or manufactured. In Q4 of 2023, for example, while imports surged 163.1%, exports rose at a slower 99.6%, indicating a huge foreign trade deficit.

“Similarly, in Q1 of 2024, Nigeria recorded a trade deficit of $7.5 billion, with exports value of $12.7 billion and import value of US$14 billion. Overall, the trade deficit as a percentage of GDP increased by 0.83% from 0.05% in May 2023 to 0.88% in May 2024.

“Fourth, President Tinubu’s policies have failed to attract foreign investments into the country despite all the posturing and media hype by the President’s men.

“Exchange rate unification and free float of the Naira have not led to higher capital inflows (whether Foreign Direct Investment or Foreign Portfolio Investments), again contrary to policy expectations.

“ Indeed, FDI inflows declined by 26.8%, from US5.33 billion in May 2023 to US$3.9 billion in May 2024. It is not difficult to understand why: FDI is about TRUST.

“It is about the investing world trusting the leadership of a country to act and deliver on promises made. Investors come when the right policies are designed and delivered timely and efficiently by public institutions.”

The Organised Labour has rejected a fresh minimum wage proposal by the Nigerian Government.

Channels Television reports that the Organised Labour, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, rejected the offer of the Federal Government to pay N60,000 as new minimum wage,.

It was also gathered that labour had shifted grounds from its N497,000 proposal to N494,000.

Channels Television said a prominent member of the Tripartite Committee for the negotiation of a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers revealed that the Federal Government and the Organised Private Sector side of the talks proposed a N60,000 monthly minimum wage as against the N57,000 they tabled last week when the committee resumed negotiations.

DAILY POST recalls that the government had initially proposed N48,000 and N54,000, which were also rejected by Organised Labour.

However, Labour had also presented N615,000 as the new minimum wage but saw reasons to drop their demand from to N497,000 last week and then to N494,000 on Tuesday.

The Tripartite Committee is yet to agree on a new minimum wage with three days to the May 31 deadline the labour unions gave to the government.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has said that the Nigerian economy was experiencing a positive growth rate of 2.99 per cent, surpassing the 2.3 per cent growth seen in the first quarter of 2024.

Edun made this disclosure during the presentation of his ministry’s performance, one year into the administration of President Bola Tinubu in Abuja on Tuesday, May 27.

According to him, the improvement in economic growth highlights the effectiveness of President Bola Tinubu’s economic strategy.

“This growth in agriculture provides the monetary authority with the leverage needed to stabilize foreign exchange (FX) rates,” Edun explained. “By continuing on this path and intensifying our efforts, we are on track to lift many Nigerians out of poverty,” He said.

The minister, who said that revenue collection had also seen significant improvements, added that it has enabled the government to service its debts without resorting to the Central Bank’s Ways and Means advances, a practice that has previously been a cause for concern regarding fiscal discipline and inflation.

The finance minister emphasized that these positive economic indicators reflect the current administration’s commitment to sustainable economic growth and fiscal responsibility.

As the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) commemorates its 49th anniversary on May 28, the President of the commission, Omar Touray said insecurity has continued to threaten the region despite its achievements.

Touray’s assertion was contained in a statement made available to THE WHISTLER on Tuesday, where he called on the region, to regardless,
recall some of the commission’s positive results.

“These achievements can be seen in many areas including free movement of our people, intra-community trade, regional energy, and transport infrastructure, governance as well as in peace and Security.

“ECOWAS may have realised many achievements, but the Community continues to face a number of challenges.

“As we celebrate our 49th anniversary, insecurity continues to threaten our region.

“Some of our member states are battling terrorist groups on a daily basis and a large number of our population face displacement and food insecurity.”

Touray noted that it was pertinent that the region stays united to successfully win the war against insecurity. “But it is our unity which now stands threatened,” he said.

He called on the member states to do everything to preserve the unity, even as it aligns with the theme of this year’s anniversary: ‘Strengthening regional unity, peace and security’.

The theme, according to Touray was chosen to reflect the region’s current challenges and the need to work to preserve regional unity and peace as envisioned by its founding fathers like General Yakubu Gowon who ensured the security and integrity of the region was protected.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our leaders, both past and present, members of the Community as well as the staff of all ECOWAS institutions and agencies for the sacrifices they make every day to promote our community objectives.

“I would also like to extend my gratitude to all our local and international partners for their consistent support to ECOWAS in the implementation of the various community projects and programmes.

“We are convinced that in unity, we will preserve peace and strengthen our actions for the security of our Member States and our people.

“Through unity, we will preserve regional stability and the harmonious political and socio-economic development of our community,” Touray said.