The Labour union said the ultimatum followed President Buhari’s statement that a “high powered technical committee” would be set up to device ways of ensuring that the implementation of the new wage did not lead to an increase in the level of borrowing.

The NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, who addressed newsmen after the meeting, said that setting up a technical committee could not be a condition for passing the minimum wage report to the National Assembly. According to Wabba, the organised labour cannot guarantee industrial peace and harmony in the country if the wage report was not passed for implementation on or before December 31.

“We reject in its entirety the plan to set up another `high powered technical committee’ on the minimum wage. It is diversionary and a delay tactics.

The national minimum wage committee was both technical and all-encompassing in its compositions and plan to set up a technical committee is alien to the tripartite process. It is also alien to the International Labour Organisations’ conventions on national minimum wage setting mechanism,’’ he said.

The labour leader said that issues on payment of minimum wage was a law that was universal, citing that other African countries like, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa had increased their minimum wage this year.

It will be recalled that the minimum wage has been the subject of discussion since last year.