Govt won’t promise workers impossible wage it can’t afford – FG

Tamarauemi Ebimini

The Federal Government said President Bola Tinubu’s administration cannot promise an “impossible” wage that it will not be able afford.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Ali Pate stated this in an interview on Channels Television on Wednesday.

Pate, however, said the government is committed to improving the welfare and wages of doctors, nurses and other health workers in the country.

He said, “We appreciate them. There are few who chose to go abroad for training. We’ve approved for some of them to go to other places to be trained. We expect that when they train, they will come back home.

“We are expanding the training of those who are around and improving the working conditions.

“In the context of the wage review that is ongoing in the country, of course with the Salary Incomes and Wages Commission, we have made submissions to have some adjustment of the remuneration of the health workforce.

“At the end of the day, it’s what the economy can afford. At the end of the day, you cannot give what you don’t have and so we have to be very deliberate not to promise things that are impossible to fulfill.

“Many of the legacy issues are 10 years; promises that had been made and could not be achieved. So it’s pointless to keep making promises and setting yourself up when you cannot fulfill them.

“One thing for sure: this President is committed to the welfare of the Nigerian workforce and in our case in health the sector, he is the champion for Health Resource in the African Union, and that says a lot about where his mind is in terms of the health workforce.”

The minister’s comment comes hours after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) stepped down a minimum wage review memo to allow for more consultations.

Recall that in his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2024, President Bola Tinubu assured the Organised Labour that an executive bill on the new national minimum wage for workers would soon be sent to the National Assembly for passage.

President Tinubu is expected to make a decision on the ₦62,000 proposal of the government and private sector side; and Labour’s ₦250,000 demand.