The Nigeria Labor Congress and the Trade Union Congress have agreed to accept the N70,000 minimum wage offered by the Federal government after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu Thursday in Abuja.
This development is coming after months of negotiations and inconclusive meetings as the Labour Unions insisted on a national minimum wage of N250,000 to reflect the current economic situation in the country. The organised private sector had proposed N62,000. Workers across the country are currently earning N30,000 minimum wage.
“We are happy to announce today (Thursday) that both the Organised Labour and the Federal Government have agreed to an increase on the N62,000 minimum wage.
“The new national minimum that Mr President is expected to submit to the National Assembly is ₦70,000,” said the Minister of Information Mohammed Idris.
NLC President Joe Ajaero confirmed that ₦70,000 was where they were on the issue of the minimum wage.
“We were here last week. And we are here now. What they have announced in terms of the amount of ₦70,000 happens to be where we are now. But the thing about it is that we will not wait for another five years to come and agree,” Ajaero said.
Minister of Labour Nkiruka Onyejeocha said Tinubu had also directed the Ministers of Finance and Budget, Wale Edun and Atiku Bagudu, respectively, to work out modalities on how to settle the issues with the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU).
