These are the stories that drove the conversation today:

Arising from an emergency meeting in Abuja late Tuesday, Governors of Nigeria’s thirty-six states under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) have they can only pay N22,500 as against the N30,000 being demanded by organised labour.

Chairman of the forum and Governor of Zamfara, Abdulaziz Yari, disclosed this while briefing journalists after the meeting,

“It is in this sense that we feel strongly that our acceptable minimum wage must be done in such a way that total personnel cost does not exceed 50 per cent of the revenue available to each state. Governors, therefore, agreed to pay a national minimum wage of N22,500.”

---

In reaction to the position of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) on the proposed national minimum wage, organised labour has insisted that it would take nothing less than N30,000, threatening to vote out any government that refuses to meet its demand.

President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba told The Guardian who described the Governors’ Forum as a body unknown to Nigeria’s law said that the organised labour would not accept the figure, adding that the new wage is not an award but a figure that was jointly arrived at through negotiation.

The labour movement had in its nationwide protest tagged “National Day of Mourning and Outrage”, held in Abuja and states of the federation on Tuesday, to reaffirm its position, the workers said there is no justification whatsoever for a refusal to pay the new wage, referring to how much was being put into politics and the forthcoming general elections.

---

The Police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Tuesday said it has arrested 400 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), popularly known as Shi’ites, in connection with Tuesday’s violent protest in the territory.

FCT Commissioner of Police in the area, Bala Ciroma, who stated this while addressing newsmen at the command’s headquarters said that the suspects had been detained for discreet investigation, adding that dangerous weapons were also recovered from them including 31 bottles of petrol bombs

Ciroma explaining that the sect burnt a Police Rapid Response Squad (RRS) patrol vehicle, he said that all the suspects would be arraigned upon conclusion of investigation.

---

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) and Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) on Tuesday restated their support for the suspension of the Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf by the Governing Council of the organisation.

In reacting to the recent statement by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) on the issue, Chairman of ASCSN, Abdulrazak Omomaji, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the Act establishing the NHIS is different from the other government parastatals guided by boards and directors, adding that the governing council of the scheme acted within its jurisdiction by telling  Yusuf to step aside for investigations after which findings will be forwarded to the Minister of Health.

“Council is therefore in order, and we shall continue with the protest as we await government’s reaction,’’ he said.

---

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday hosted to a dinner, aggrieved aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the just concluded party’s primaries across the country.

As reported by The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), aggrieved gubernatorial, National and State Assembly aspirants who failed to secure the party’s tickets for the 2019 general elections were in attendance.

The meeting is seen as part of reconciliatory efforts by the President to pacify the aspirants ahead of next year’s polls in order to prevent them from defecting or working against the party.