As workers’ anxiety continued to mount over the proposed National Minimum Wage (NMW), there are indications that government leaders, labour leaders and employers of labour in the private sector would meet tomorrow in Abuja to finalise discussions on the proposal.

Business Eye reliably gathered that the proposed meeting was convened to agree on what the final minimum wage should be and when its implementation would commence, at least in the public sector.

A source in the know of the tripartite meeting slated for tomorrow to hold at the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Abuja, said that “the meeting is expected to douse all speculations over the minimum wage and possibly give the commencement date of its implementation.

“As we speak now, arrangements are in top gear to have all the stakeholders at the meeting so that the lingering anxieties over the minimum wage will be addressed once and for all by all the stakeholders. Except the unexpected happens, I can confirm to you that the meeting will hold on Tuesday”, she assured.

The NMW which is due for review every five years, was due for review since two years ago but had not been reviewed as governments continued to give one excuse or the other on the feasibility of the proposed minimum wage.

However, after series of negotiations between the organized labour, employers in the OPS as well as government leaders spanning over 10 months, it was agreed by the parties that the NMW should be reviewed upwards in view of the prevailing micro and macroeconomic indices of the economy.

The President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Bobboi Kaigama, had last July announced that a new amount agreed on by the Federal Government and labour to serve as the minimum wage would be announced last month.

The labour leader confirmed then that the committee working on the minimum wage had almost concluded negotiations on the matter and that the Federal Government had set September for the commencement of its implementation.

However, Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige, was reported to have doubted the feasibility of the implementation this month.