Mark said the National Assembly had not concluded the amendment process for the decentralisation of the Minimum Wage Law.
He said that the National Assembly had a long way to go in the ongoing amendment to the 1999 Constitution.
He explained that a joint committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives would be convened to consider all the issues listed for amendment during which the issue of the retention of the wage law in the exclusive list would be dealt with.
The Senate President made the comment while addressing protesting members of the organised labour-led by the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar; and the Governor of Edo State, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja, on Wednesday.
He said that the decision of the Senate to vote in favour of the removal of labour matters was based on submissions by Nigerians during public hearings organised on the issue.
He said, “You can see that I have come with many senators who have left the plenary to be here with us. Let me assure you that whatever we have built so far, the Senate will review and improve on it, we will improve on it, we are on the same page with the workers.”
Mark also received a letter signed by the President of the Trade Union Congress and Omar, which urged him to appeal to the members of the Senate to have a rethink and reverse the decision to decentralise the wage law.
Mark said, “Let me appreciate the perspective from which you have come… let me say that if we take a decision in the Senate that is progressive, instead of progressing, you have every right to be concerned and worried.
“We have not concluded the exercise, we still have a long, long way to go but it is good that you have alerted us now; it is good that you have come to present your case. It is even better that I have personally come to take the message from you.
However, Mark urged the leadership of the organised labour to exploit the opportunities offered by the public hearing to make their case before decisions were taken on issues in the spirit of participatory democracy.
Oshiomhole criticised his fellow governors, the Senate and the political class for the decision to remove minimum wage from the exclusive list to the concurrent list.
Oshiomhole cautioned the political class against the implication of removing the minimum wage from the exclusive list.
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