Nigeria: Press focuses on N100,000 being considered by Labour, others

The report that the Organised Labour may settle for N100,000 minimum wage as the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage commences daily meetings for five days to reach a consensus is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that the Organised Labour may settle for N100,000 minimum wage as the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage commences daily meetings for five days to reach a consensus.
Multiple sources in the labour movement told The PUNCH on Tuesday that the union leaders were willing to review their demand from N494,000 to N100,000, following the criticism and controversy that trailed their proposal which was considered outrageous and unrealistic.
In a statement by his media aide, Rabiu Ibrahim on Saturday, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the proposed minimum wage would result in an annual expenditure of N9.5tn, a burden he described as untenable for the nation’s finances.
Despite the intervention of the leadership of the National Assembly, labour embarked on an indefinite strike on Monday, a development that grounded economic activities nationwide.
Banks, airports, public schools and courts were shut, forcing the Federal Government to convene an emergency meeting to find a way out of the impasse.
In a bid to move the negotiation forward, the unions on Tuesday announced the suspension of the industrial action for five days after President Bola Tinubu agreed to pay a national minimum wage higher than N60,000 and the tripartite committee pledged its readiness to convene daily until a new minimum wage is announced.
To show his commitment to the negotiation, the President on Tuesday directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present the cost implications for a new minimum wage within two days.
The newspaper says that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has said it would mandate international oil companies to supply crude oil to Dangote oil refinery.
The spokesperson for the NUPRC, Olaide Shonola, said the commission was intervening to ensure the local sale of crude to Dangote and other refineries in the country.
Shonola stated this while reacting to a claim by the Chairman of the Dangote Group that the international oil companies were not ready to sell crude to the refinery.
In an interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday, Shonola said the NUPRC would mandate the IOCs to sell to the Dangote refinery, with clear directives that this must be done.
“We’ve been intervening and intervening. I am sure you’re aware of a recent meeting that was held with them on domestic crude oil supply. We will keep engaging them, NUPRC has been doing that.
“I can’t say we will force them, but as the regulator, we can mandate. And that’s what we are doing, giving clear directives that this must be done. We will just keep on engaging and you will agree with me that most of these things have to be planned. We will keep on engaging. We will do our regulatory function in that area,” she stated.
Asked whether there would be sanctions, Shinola declined comments.
“We will mandate them, as in, give clear directives based on our regulatory functions,” she emphasised.
In an interview with CNN, Aliko Dangote said international oil companies in Nigeria were not ready to sell crude oil to the 650,000 barrels capacity oil refinery.
According to him, the international oil companies were used to exporting crude for foreign exchange and they were not ready to stop.
Dangote said though the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd was doing its best to supply feedstock to the refinery, the IOCs wanted to sell outside the country.
The Vanguard newspaper reports that the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has condemned the increasing sequence of abduction and arrest of journalists in the country by security agencies, especially the Nigeria Police Force, under the guise of enforcing the Cyber Security Act, and warned of the consequence of such illegal actions on press freedom.
The professional body of media executives and senior editors also warned of the dangers of allowing certain territories of the Nigerian states falling into the hands of terrorists and bandits, and expressed optimism that the federal government has all it takes to flush out these enemies of the country, and guarantee peace and security of the country and its people.
The Guild stated these in a press statement issued and signed by its President, Mr Eze Anaba and the General Secretary, Dr Iyobosa Uwugiaren, at the end of its Standing Committee meeting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, weekend.
According to the Guild, ‘’The meeting deliberated on the state of the media with emphasis on the increasing spate of abduction and arrest of journalists in the country – under the guise of enforcing the Cyber Security Act, and warned of the implications of such illegal actions on press freedom.
‘’The professional body of media executives and editors while warning the security agencies, especially the Nigeria Police, against press freedom violation, called for a proper understanding and intention of the Cyber Security Act, declaring that the law was enacted as a legal framework for combating cybercrimes and not for persecuting journalists, who are performing their legitimate duties in a democracy.’’
The editors particularly condemned the method of abduction/arrest of journalists, the long detention and inhuman treatment they are subjected to, and said it was a negation of a democratic space.
‘’Press freedom is the ability of the media to report news and express opinion without government interference, censorship, or retribution. It is a fundamental human right essential for a healthy democracy, allowing citizens to access accurate information, hold leaders accountable, and participate in informed public discourse,’’ the editors added.
The newspaper says that former President Goodluck Jonathan advocates for judicial integrity, emphasising that fair elections would significantly decrease the number of court cases.
Speaking at the inauguration of Delta State’s new high court complex in Asaba, Jonathan stated that a substantial portion of politicians resort to litigation due to perceived electoral injustices, estimating that about 50 percent of court cases stem from feelings of being cheated by the electoral system.
His words “My thinking is that 50 percent of those who go to court go to court because they felt they were cheated by the electoral management system; they were rigged out.
“When you feel naturally aggrieved, you have to go to court. So assuming the elections are properly conducted, they know they failed the election, but they feel they can use the judiciary to declare them winners.
“If the judiciary doesn’t declare who doesn’t win the election that they are winners, that many 50 percent will not go to court.
“In South Africa, the electoral management body will never compromise, they all know. If you lose the election, you just wait for the next election. You don’t need to go to court.
“Because if you go to court, the judiciary too will not compromise. So you will not get anything.”
Meanwhile, he also commended the Delta government for its efforts in improving the working environment of judicial officers.
GIK/APA