The Senate on Tuesday appointed the Deputy Majority Whip, Francis Alimikhena, as acting chairman of the Adhoc Committee on Minimum Wage.

The president of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who made the announcement at plenary on Tuesday, said Mr Alimikhena would work in acting capacity while the chairman, Olusola Adeyeye, was away on health grounds.

Mr Saraki charged the committee to expedite action on the matter to enable the Senate to be able to catch up with the House of Representatives which had already passed the bill through third reading.

The deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, had on Jan. 24, appointed the chief whip of the Senate, Olusola Adeyeye, as chairman of an eight-member ad-hoc committee mandated to work on the minimum wage bill.

The members of the adhoc committee are: Abu Ibrahim(APC-Katsina State); Shehu Sani (PRP-Kaduna State) and Sam Egwu(PDP-Ebonyi).

Others are: Suleiman Adokwe(PDP-Nasarawa State); Francis Alimikhena(APC-Edo); Solomon Adeola (APC-Lagos State) and Binta Garba (APC-Adamawa).

The House of Representatives had on Jan. 29 approved N30,000 as minimum wage for workers in the public and private sectors.

The lower chamber increased the threshold for public and private sectors workers in states and local governments from N27,000 as proposed in the National Minimum Wage Act Amendment Bill to N30,000. (NAN)