Godswill Akpabio,Senate President, has announced that the newly approved N70,000 minimum wage applies to all workers across both public and private sectors, including domestic staff.
Akpabio stated this during the plenary session on Tuesday.
He said “If you are a tailor and you employ additional hands, you cannot pay them below N70,000. If you are a mother with a newborn child and you want to hire a housemaid to look after your child, you cannot pay the person below the approved minimum wage. It is not a maximum wage. It applies to all and sundry.
READ ALSO: BREAKING: Senate Passes N70,000 Minimum Wage Bill
“If you hire a driver or gateman, you cannot pay them below N70,000. So, I’m very delighted that this has been passed, and we now look forward to employers of labour improving on what has been set as a benchmark for all to follow.
“I congratulate the Nigeria Labour Congress, all Nigerians, and the National Assembly for this epoch-making legislation, which has even reduced the term of negotiations from five years to three years in view of the increasing cost of living. This is, again, a landmark legislation, so congratulations.”
READ ALSO: Minimum Wage
The bill was speedily passed by both chambers of the National Assembly just after it was transmitted by President Bola Tinubu.