By Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, announced that the Federal Government and Organised Labour have agreed on ₦70,000 as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
The agreement was reached during a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Abuja on Thursday.
“We are pleased to announce today that both Organised Labour and the Federal Government have agreed to raise the minimum wage from ₦62,000 to ₦70,000,” Idris told State House correspondents. NLC President Joe Ajaero, TUC boss Festus Osifo, Labour Minister Nkiruka Onyejeocha, and other officials were present during the announcement.
Idris also confirmed that under the new agreement, the minimum wage will be reviewed every three years instead of waiting for five years as previously done.
Ajaero stated that Organised Labour will consult its members on the ₦70,000 benchmark. “This ₦70,000 figure aligns with our current position. Importantly, we will no longer wait five years before revisiting this issue,” Ajaero emphasized.
Onyejeocha added that Tinubu instructed the Ministers of Finance and Budget, Wale Edun and Atiku Bagudu, respectively, to develop a framework to resolve issues with the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU).
The agreement follows weeks of discussions between labour leaders and the President, after earlier failed negotiations involving a tripartite committee on minimum wage set up in January. Initially, the committee proposed ₦62,000, while labour advocated for ₦250,000 due to economic challenges exacerbated by inflation and the removal of petrol subsidy.
President Tinubu had urged realistic expectations regarding minimum wage during a meeting with labour leaders last week, emphasizing the need to align expectations with economic realities.
In his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2024, the President announced that an executive bill on the new national minimum wage would soon be forwarded to the National Assembly for approval.
Minister Idris confirmed that the agreed ₦70,000 figure will be formally presented to the National Assembly in the coming days.
