The House of Representatives has passed for second reading, the Constitution Alteration Bill seeking to transfer the subject matter of minimum wage prescription from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List set out under the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Leading the debate on the Bill at the plenary session of Tuesday, 22 February 2021, Hon. Garba Datti Muhammad ( APC: Kaduna) mentioned that the Bill aims to amend both the Exclusive Legislative List by deleting the words “ prescribing a national minimum wage for the Federation or any part thereof” under Item 34 of Part 1 of the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and inserting a new paragraph 21 and 22  into the Concurrent Legislative List such that the legislative power over the prescription of a minimum wage becomes a concurrent power shared between the National Assembly and the State Houses of Assembly.

Hon. Muhammad in his submissions, noted that every attempt to provide a minimum wage has been saddled with oppositions and controversies by several States citing unavailability of funds to pay the prescribed amount. He stated that the Bill will provide for the decentralisation of minimum wages on the basis of the socio-economic variables across different States and allow for negotiations of a minimum wage that is reasonable to the specific circumstance of the State.

This includes local peculiarities such as differences in the cost of food, housing, education, health, transportation etc.

Hon. Muhammad stated that the Bill if passed, will bring Nigeria closer to achieving true federalism by devolving powers to the States. The Bill has been referred to the Ad-hoc Committee on Constitution Review for further legislative actions