Charismatic Catholic priest, Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka, said the proposed N62,000 national minimum wage should be made applicable to senators, governors, and members of the House of Representatives.
Mbaka, who urged the federal government to handle the wage issue cautiously to avoid a crisis, told reporters on Sunday that: “If we decide to give labour N60,000 or N62,000, why not generalise it to the House of Assembly members, senators, House of Representatives members, and governors?
“They are all civil servants. Or are the others (workers) slaves? I can’t understand why they are amassing billions for sitting allowance, wardrobe allowance, newspaper allowance, and suffering allowance.
“The people that should have such allowances are those suffering in the villages. How much are our teachers, nurses, and doctors being paid? Let’s be realistic. Our civil servants that wake early and return late daily, how much are they being paid.
“Looking at the level of inflation in the country, you will see that we all are not sincere in this country.”
Mbaka therefore pleaded with the government to intervene urgently, warning: “This situation must be handled with care because it could be hijacked and nobody knows the ripple effect.”
Recall that labour unions in the country embarked on strike to protest the failure of the federal government to implement the new minimum wage on June 1.
Members of the organised labour had, on Tuesday, suspended their strike for five days.
The strike which commenced on Monday, June 3, was called to protest the failure of the Federal Government to approve a new minimum wage, latest May 31, and reverse the hike in electricity tariff.
Also recall that after a six-hour meeting with the leadership of organised labour in Abuja last Monday, the Federal Government expressed the commitment of President Bola Tinubu to raising the N60,000 offered as minimum wage.
The federal government has upped their offer to N62,000 while labour is demanding N495,000 as the minimum wage.
