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The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee notes that, under section 2(1) of the National Minimum Wage Act, as amended by the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2000 of 1 May 2000, the statutory minimum wage does not apply to establishments with less than 50 workers. Considering that this excluded category of workers would seem to include those workers who are most in need of the protection of minimum wages, according to the criteria set out in this Article of the Convention (no effective regulation and exceptionally low wages), the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether it intends to take any measures to extend the coverage of the minimum wage legislation to these workers as well as to other categories of workers (e.g. part-time workers, seasonal workers, workers paid on commission or on piece-rate basis etc.) currently excluded from its scope of application.

Article 3, paragraph 2(2). The Committee notes the Government’s statement in its last report to the effect that an ad hoc tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage was set up in 2000 to fix, through negotiation and consultations, a new national minimum wage. In this connection, the Committee would be grateful if the Government could specify and communicate a copy of the statutory instrument pursuant to which this Committee was established and further elaborate on its composition and terms of reference, in particular, as regards the equal representation of the interests of employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its last report that the national minimum wage is currently set at N5,500 per month while employers’ and workers’ organizations may determine through collective bargaining higher minimum wage rates for specific industries in the public and private sectors. The Committee renews its request for detailed information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, the minimum wage rates in force by sector and occupational category, statistics on the number of workers covered by relevant legislation, inspection reports containing information on the number and nature of violations observed and penalties imposed, and any other particulars bearing on the operation of the minimum wage fixing machinery.