House of Representatives has frowned at the unruly manner in which the organized labour carried out the nationwide strike yesterday, June 3, over the controversy on national minimum wage.
The Reps, in a statement today, June 4, by the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Rep Akin Rotimi, Jr. said: “we observed with concern, the direction of the strike action before its suspension, and what it portends for the future.

“Importantly, the shutdown of critical infrastructure, such as the national grid, constitutes economic sabotage and is detrimental to the well-being of our country. Those responsible for these actions must be held accountable.
“We also find it troubling that the leadership of Organised Labour, majority of whom live far above the means of the average Nigerian, would engage in actions that exacerbate the suffering of ordinary citizens.
“It is necessary therefore, to state that while industrial actions and dissent are fundamental rights within our democratic space that must be protected, the manner in which Labour conducted itself during the just-suspended strike, largely shows a lack of empathy for Nigerians.”
The lawmakers asked: “is the objective of the leadership of the unions to compel the government to implement a living wage or to inflict pain on Nigerians?”
The Reps stressed the importance of addressing what it called “persistent misinformation and disinformation propagated by Organised Labour Leadership regarding the earnings of lawmakers.
“This is especially because Organised Labour has for years, contributed to false narratives about the remuneration of Members of the National Assembly, exaggerating figures to stoke public resentment and undermine the credibility of the Legislature.
“This tactic diverts attention from the core issues at stake and unfairly vilifies the institution of parliament. “It is crucial for all parties to engage in an honest and transparent dialogue rather than resorting to the spread of inaccuracies for political leverage.
“Contrary to the insinuations of the Labour Leadership through its social media platforms, the Legislature is on the side of Nigerians and will continue to act in the best interest of our constituents – giving meaning to their mandate.
“The 10th House of Representatives is committed to strengthening relevant legislation to ensure that essential services remain operational during future industrial actions, thereby protecting the lives and well-being of all Nigerians.
“We urge the Leadership of Organised Labour to return to the negotiation table and engage other stakeholders, in good faith, with a view to achieving a balanced and sustainable outcome. “The People’s House remains steadfast in our commitment to the well-being of the Nigerian worker and the overall development of our country.”
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House, Abbas Tajudeen, has said that he had consistently advocated a living wage and better working conditions for Nigerian workers.
According to him, he had at various fora, emphasised the importance of addressing key national priorities, including the state of the economy and insecurity, through legislative action.
He said that while the House is in full support of the call for improved wages and working conditions, there is great need to exercise caution in increasing the minimum wage beyond what the nation’s economy can sustain, to avoid unintended outcomes such as inflation, layoffs and other adverse economic consequences.
“Thus, we restate the importance of approaching this issue from a balanced perspective to ensure long-term stability and prosperity for all Nigerians.”

The true national minimum wage is expected to emerge before Friday, June 7 as the President, Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to work out the cost Implications of the new minimum wage.
According to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who spoke to newsmen after a meeting between the federal government and the labour leaders at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today, June 4, all the parties to the negotiation of the new minimum wage would work together with the organised labour to present a new minimum wage for Nigerians in one week.
“All of us will work together assiduously within the next one week to ensure that we have a new wage for Nigeria that is acceptable sustainable and also realistic.”
Mohammed Idris said that the President had given a marching order that all those who have negotiated on behalf of the Federal government and all those who are representatives of organised private sectors, the sub nationals to come together to have a new wage award that is affordable, sustainable and realistic for Nigerians
“We were all there to look at all issues, and the president has directed the minister of finance to do the numbers and get back to him between today and tomorrow so that we can have figures ready for negotiation with labour. Let me say that the president is determined to go with what the committee has said, and he’s also looking at the welfare of Nigerians.
“The government is not an opponent of labour discussions or wage increases.”
The minister said that the president directed the committee to work together to give Nigerians an “affordable, sustainable, and realistic” minimum wage.
“All of us will work together assiduously within the next one week to ensure that we have a new wage for Nigeria that is acceptable, sustainable, and also realistic.”
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, had summoned labour leaders to an emergency meeting after the strike which crippled economic activities yesterday, June 3.
At the end of the meeting, it was announced that the Federal Government had offered to pay higher than N60,000 minimum wage as a result of which the labour unions suspended the Nationwide strike action for a week.

The Nationwide strike action embarked upon by workers in Nigeria, under the canopy of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has grounded the socio-economic activities of the country and threw it into total darkness.
As at this morning, June 3, which is the first day of the strike, all the airports in the country have shut down, the same way banks and other commercial houses and organizations were shut down.
The power grid and the electricity transmission and distribution companies have also been shut down
Reports reaching us at Greenbarge Reporters online newspaper said that workers and commuters who ventured out to the streets are stranded on the roads because there are no vehicles to convey them to their destinations as transporters joined strike.
General Manager, Public Affairs of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Ndidi Mbah, confirmed that the Labour Union has shut down the national grid, resulting in black out nationwide.
“The national grid shut down occured at about 2.19am this morning, 3rd June 2024.
“At about 1:15am this morning, the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that all operators were driven away from the control room and that staff that resisted were beaten while some were wounded in the course of forcing them out of the control room and without any form of control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Center was brought to zero.
“Other transmission substations that were shut down, by the Labour Union include the Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba and Osogbo Transmission Substations.
“Some transmission lines were equally opened due to the ongoing activities of the labour union.
“On the power generating side, power generating units from different generating stations were forced to shut down some units of their generating plants, the Jebba Generating Station was forced to shut down one of its generating units while three others in the same substation subsequently shut down on very high frequency. The sudden forced load cuts led to high frequency and system instability, which eventually shut down the national grid at 2:19am.
“At about 3.23am, however, TCN commenced grid recovery, using the Shiroro Substation to attempt to feed the transmission lines supplying bulk electricity to the Katampe Transmission Substation.
“The situation is such that the labour Union is still obstructing grid recovery nationwide.
“We will continue to make effort to recover and stabilize the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centres nationwide.”