Minimum Wage Bill: NASS not proposing seizure of states, LGs funds – Senate spokesman

The Chairman of Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu has said the 10th Senate was not contemplating putting a clause for seizure of states and local government councils’ funds in the proposed new Minimum Wage Bill.

In a statement he issued on Saturday in Abuja, Adaramodu stressed that the new Minimum Wage Bill being proposed by the Executive has nothing close to seizure of funds in the event of breaches by state governments.

He was reacting to reports that the lawmakers have taken a position to propose to the Presidency in the new legislation, seizure of statutory allocation of states and LGs which default in the payment of the new wage.

Adaramodu described the report as unfounded, submitting that it would be wrong to assume that the Senate would take a position on a Bill that hasn’t been submitted to it for deliberation.

He said: “Mr President in his national broadcast on Democracy Day only informed Nigerians that he would soon send the New Minimum Wage Bill to us. No one among us, not even the Senate President knows the content of the Bill.

“How can we take a position on a document that we haven’t even sighted?

“During my interface with some selected journalists, as part of activities to mark the one year anniversary of the 10th National Assembly, I did not at any point, state that the allocations belonging to States and Local Governments will be seized.”

According to him, lawmakers are still waiting for the Minimum Wage Bill from the Executive for legislative actions, adding that the report attributed to him was a misrepresentation of his interactive session with journalists.