Minimum wage: Housemaids, gatemen, drivers can’t earn below N70,000 – Akpabio says

Godswill Akpabio, the President of the Senate, has stated that Nigerian employers cannot pay their staff below N70,000.

According to Akpabio, employers can no longer pay their housemaids, drivers, or gatemen less than N70,000.

He made the statement when approving the new minimum wage measure on the Senate floor.

According to Akpabio: “If you’re a tailor and you employ additional hands, you can’t pay the person below 70,000. If you have a housemaid, you cannot pay them below 70,000. If you hire a driver or a gateman, you cannot pay them below 70,000.”

Recall that President Bola Tinubu approved N70,000 as the new minimum wage for workers during a meeting with organized labour.

Following his approval, the president sent the minimum wage bill to the National Assembly for passage.

In another news, Senate President Natasha Apoti-Uduaghan has apologized to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, for criticizing her.

Last Thursday, Akpabio cautioned Akpoti-Uduaghan on the Senate floor that she was not in the nightclub.

The Senate was in session when Akpabio instructed those who supported the second reading of a bill to say ‘Aye’ and those who opposed it to say ‘Nay’.

The ‘Nay’ reaction was the loudest, and as the Senate President considered his next step, Akpoti-Uduaghan rose to explain why she and others opposed the proposal’s second reading.

“Mr President, we don’t want it to be killed. We just want a bit of modification. We don’t want the bill killed but there should be slight modification.”

Akpabio responded to her by saying,  “You see Senator Natasha, in the chamber, you have to be recognized before you speak. We’re not in a nightclub.”

However, Akpabio has stated that his “night club” statement was taken out of context.

Speaking on the Senate floor on Tuesday, the Senate President stated: “We are still learning, even those of us who have been in the Senate for 16 years, we are still learning.

“But in the cause of speaking with one of my distinguished sisters on not speaking when not recognized, I made reference to the fact that we are not in a night club where people have to shout above the noise of the music.

“The social media went agog, my wife called me that they published her number and she received around 2,000 to 3,000 calls per day.

“I’m happy with the interest generated by Nigerians with what goes on in this chambers because we are here for their interest.

“The communication was totally misunderstood, instead of making meaning with what we said, they went into private abuses; I don’t want to say what they did to me.

“I will not intentionally denigrate any woman, I have a wife and four daughters and I always pray that God will lift a girl to the highest zenith in Nigeria politically and in business. So Senator Natasha I want to apologize to you if you felt offended.

“There is nothing I will say that would not be misrepresented, I felt I should tender a public apology to you.”