Abuja – The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed into second reading a Bill seeking an amendment to the Minimum Wage Act 2004 to reverse the exclusion of companies that have foreign interests from the list of establishment exempted from payment of National Minimum Wage in the country.
The Bill was titled ” A Bill for an Act to Amend the National Minimum Wage Act Cap N6, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 to exclude the Establishments that have foreign participation from the list of Establishments exempted from the Payment of the National Minimum Wage and for Other Matter Related Thereto”
In his lead debate, the Bill sponsor Hon. Peter Akpatason (Edo,APC) said it is regrettable that companies that make millions and billions of Naira in Nigeria do not have up to fifty(50) workers, yet do not pay the National Minimum Wage of eighteen thousand naira (N18,000).
According to him, the exemption of foreign owned companies from the list of establishments that are excluded from the payment of minimum wage has done a great disservice to the nation in terms of its revenue.
He noted that in Sect (6) sub-sect (3) of the existing Act,the Attorney-General of the Federation has the discretion to determine who to prosecute or not in terms of contraventions of the law on payment of the national minimum wage.
While urging the lawmakers to support the proposed amendment,he noted that in the last amendment to the existing Act, the interpretation of the foreign companies included those that have up to 50% equity participation by foreigners.
The House adopted the motion without further debate when the Speaker Hon.Yakubu Dogara called for a voice vote on the motion which was overwhelmingly voted by the lawmakers.
He later referred the matter to the House Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity for more legislative inputs.
Yakubu Dogara, House of Representatives Speaker
