The Federal Government said employers in the private sector who fail to pay the new minimum wage of N70,000 risk being jailed.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Kachollom Daju, issued this threat on Wednesday while speaking at the 13th Annual General Meeting of the Employers Association for Private Employment Agencies of Nigeria, held in Ikeja, Lagos.
Daju in his remark, said the minimum wage is a creation of the law, saying flouting it comes with implications.
According to him, “The minimum wage is now a law, and as a result, it is a punishable crime for any employer to pay less than N70,000 to any of its workers.
“The private employment agencies should make it compulsory in any contract they take from their principal that their workers should not earn less than the minimum wage. The least paid worker in Nigeria should earn N70,000, and I think that should be after all deductions.
“The minimum wage is a law, and you can be jailed if you fail to implement it. The Federal Government is committed to ensuring that the least paid worker goes home with N70,000.”
