Members of the House of Representatives were, divided over new bill

Members of the House of Representatives were, on Tuesday, divided over a bill seeking to allow states to individually determine the minimum wage suitable for them.

Presently, the Federal Government maintains the exclusive powers to negotiate and determine the national minimum wage for workers across the three tiers of government in Nigeria.

On Tuesday, a bill seeking an amendment to the 1999 Constitution by removing matters relating to wages from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List narrowly passed second reading due to the division among the lawmakers on the proposal.

When a bill in the House that is making the proposal becomes law, respective state and local governments will be able to determine different wages for their workers, a development that the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase, and some others said would worsen the plights of labour in the states.

The legislation is titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to, Among Others, Transfer the Subject Matter of Minimum Wage Prescription from the Exclusive Legislative List Set Out Under Part I of the Second Schedule to the Concurrent Legislative List Set Out Under Part II of the Second Schedule to the Constitution; and for Related Matters.