The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Bola Tinubu to “ensure that the government’s proposed bill on a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers is fully consistent and in line with Nigeria’s international obligations to promote and advance workers’ rights to worthy. living wage.”
The President in his Democracy Day Address on June 12 stated that “We will soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to establish a new minimum wage as part of our constitution for the next five years or less.”
The group said it would take “appropriate legal action to compel the government to comply with its demands in the public interest”, if the government sends to the National Assembly any draft law that does not meet the requirements of international standards.
In a letter dated June 15, 2024 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “the minimum wage levels proposed in the draft executive law are grossly inadequate and do not meet the requirements of Nigeria’s international human rights treaties. is the state party.”
SERAP said, “The executive bill must reflect international standards that Nigerian workers should be given, at a minimum, a living wage, commensurate with the cost of living.”
According to SERAP, “As you and your government know, workers in Nigeria face many human rights challenges. Most people living in poverty work, but they do not earn enough wages to provide a decent standard of living for themselves and their families.”
The letter reads in part: “Any proposed minimum wage that fails to guarantee a dignified life for Nigerian workers and their families would be completely inconsistent and inconsistent with international standards.
“Successive governments have consistently and systematically violated these guarantees. Millions of Nigerian workers remain poor mainly due to low wages and lack of social security and social protection.
“If your government sends to the National Assembly any draft law that does not meet the requirements of international standards, and the bill is subsequently passed into law, SERAP will take all necessary legal action to compel your government to comply with our request for the sake of public interest. .
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“The proposed recommendations are not unrealistic, as they are based on Nigeria’s international human rights obligations. Human rights are not a matter of charity. Upholding Nigeria’s international obligations regarding workers’ rights to a living wage will protect the purchasing power of workers in poverty.
“The preparation of the executive bill provides you and your government with an important opportunity to respect, protect, promote and advance the rights of Nigerian workers to living wages and fair wages.
“We urge you to take concrete steps to defend the rights of Nigerian workers to a living wage.
“This will ensure that the proposed executive bill not only protects against absolute poverty but also against relative poverty, as a source of social exclusion.
“Your government has a legal obligation to reflect this assurance in any executive bill regarding the new minimum wage that is sent to the National Assembly.
“The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights imposes a clear legal obligation on your government to ensure and uphold the right of Nigerian workers to a living wage that will ensure a decent standard of living for workers and their families.
“We urge you to harness the country’s resources for the benefit of human rights, and advance Nigerian workers’ right to a living wage by urgently cutting governance costs and implementing bold transparency and accountability measures in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). ).
“We urge you and your government to immediately propose major cuts in budget allocations to fund security polls, jumbo salaries and allowances paid to members of the National Assembly, and unlawful lifetime pensions to former governors and their deputies.
“We also urge you and your government to immediately and fully recover the lost public funds of MDAs, as documented in several reports published by the Auditor General of the Federation.
“This will enable you and your government to effectively comply with Nigeria’s international legal obligations regarding workers’ right to a living wage.”
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