Minimum Wage Bill: NASS denies proposing seizure of states, LGs funds

The Chairman of Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Yemi Adaramodu has denied media report of speculated plan by the Senate to input a clause for seizure of states and local council funds in the New Minimum Wage Bill being proposed by the Executive.

A national daily has reported that the lawmakers have taken a position to propose to the Presidency in the new legislation, seizure of statutory allocation of the two other sub nationals which defaults in the payment of the new wage once it secures presidential assent and becomes an Act of Parliament.

Senator Adaramodu in a statement however dismissed the report as unfounded.
He submitted 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.

“Nigeria is a federation, with sub-national governments that are autonomous. The misleading headline by The Punch Newspaper that allocations belonging to States and local councils will be seized is false and should be disregarded.”

“We are still awaiting the Executive Bill and once we have it, it will go through all Legislative stages and once this is done and it receives Presidential assent, it becomes law. And it is law that can specify sanction, not the National Assembly.”

The Senate spokesperson maintained that the report attributed to him by The Punch was a misrepresentation of his interactive session with the newsmen.

“My interview was well reported today in the national dailies. It was not exclusive to The Punch. Other newspapers reflected adequately what I said. Why did Punch choose to misrepresent me? ”