President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, met with governors of the 36 states of the federation and ministers over the new minimum wage demand by organised labour and other economic matters.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima chaired the meeting at the council chamber of the presidential villa before Tinubu arrived at the venue. 

The meeting comes about 48 hours after the federal executive council (FEC) stepped down the memo on the new minimum wage for the president to consult with the governors and the private sector.

The governors, under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), met in Abuja on Wednesday to deliberate on the minimum wage for workers.

Over the past few months, the federal and state governments, organised labour, and the private sector have been negotiating a new minimum wage.

At the last meeting of the tripartite committee on minimum wage, organised labour rejected the N62,000 proposal by the government and insisted on N250,000.

The federal government had asked the labour unions to demand a more realistic and sustainable minimum wage.

On June 7, governors under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) said the N60,000 minimum wage for workers was unsustainable.

Kemi Pinhero, EFCC counsel, urged the court to compel the defence lawyer to explain why the defendant was not in court despite an undertaking he made on June 13 to that effect. 

He prayed the court to dismiss “the story of the defence lawyer as dilatory and a further attempt to treat this court with scorn”.

Pinhero also prayed the court to punish the two senior lawyers representing the former governor, insisting that they have breached the rules of professional conduct.

“My lord, our application is that since one of the lawyers is present in court, he should be moved to the dock and dealt with summarily. That is what the law says,” the EFCC lawyer said.

“We urge the court to exercise disciplinary jurisdiction over the lawyers so as to preserve the integrity of the judiciary.

“If a chief justice of Nigeria can be docked before an inferior tribunal, who then is a SAN or a former governor in terms of status?

“Even a former president of the United States of America was docked. These senior lawyers have been helping the defendant to treat this court with scorn.

“For five consecutive sittings, the defendant refused to make himself available for his trial and his lawyers have continued to use all forms of chicanery to frustrate his arraignment. 

“If this sort of conduct is not punished, then we will be sliding to a situation that will be worse than Animal Farm.

“The world is watching. Punishing these senior lawyers will send a very clear message.”

‘ONLY AN AFTERTHOUGHT

Responding, Adedipe told the court that he was not Bello’s lead counsel, adding that he also did not sign any undertaking to guarantee the presence of his client in court.

“My lord, the narration by the prosecution counsel is very untrue and it is accentuated by malice. I am not the lead counsel in this matter,” Adedipe said.

“What the learned prosecution counsel has tried to do was to pitch my person against this court.”

He submitted that the EFCC has failed to execute the warrant it obtained for the arrest of the defendant.

Adedipe said his team had earlier notified the court that it was not aware of the whereabouts of the former governor.

He noted that given the direction the case had taken, he would like to withdraw his appearance for the defendant pursuant to Section 349(8) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

The EFCC lawyer submitted that it was too late for the defence lawyer to withdraw his appearance. 

“My lord, he should be used to set an example that this is not a lottery game. His request to withdraw is only an afterthought and it should not be countenanced by this court,” he said.

“I urge your lordship to invite him to the dock immediately.”

Emeka Nwite, trial judge, is yet to rule on the matter.

The national assembly has passed the bills seeking the extension of the capital component of the 2023 budget and the Supplementary Appropriation Act.

The federal lawmakers granted an extension from June to December, following a request by President Bola Tinubu.

The senate and house of representatives passed the bills on Thursday after considering their clauses at the committee on supply.

The passage was preceded by a rowdy session at the house of representatives.

The president, in a letter read by Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, asked the green chamber to extend the implementation of the capital components of the 2023 budget and Supplementary Appropriation Act from June 30 to December 31.

After Abbas read the letter, some lawmakers opposed the call for the debate of the president’s request.

Julius Ihonvbere, majority leader of the house, moved for the debate of the bill, saying the amendment does not alter the content of the bill but just the date.

Kingsley Chinda, minority leader of the house, expressed concern that the two budgets are running concurrently.

He said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration was criticised for lacking a clear budgetary cycle, adding that the current administration is potentially repeating the mistake.

The ranking legislator demanded that the bill be stepped down to enable the government to “go back to the drawing board”.

Sada Soli, an All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker from Katsina, opposed Chinda, saying the PDP lawmaker was “playing to the gallery”.

“I admire the PDP for playing to the gallery. You cannot extend the supplementary budget without the main budget,” he said.

His comment prompted vocal protests from the lawmakers.

Reacting, Ado Doguwa, a ranking APC member from Katsina, said: “I agree with the submission made by the minority of the house.

“Even though it is legal, it is unprecedented. That moral question will always be raised.”

He, however, appealed to his colleagues to support the bill, saying the president would understand the body language of the lawmakers.

Following the bickering, the lawmakers moved into an executive session.