Minimum Wage: FG, Labour Finally Agree On N70,000, To Review In Three Years Instead Of Five Years

Finally both the Federal Government of Nigeria and leadership  Organized Labour have agreed on N70,000 as the new minimum wage for average workers in the country, which is expected to be reviewed after three years as against the the current five years period 

The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris who revealed this to newsmen in Abuja on Thursday, said the agreement was reached at a meeting between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and that of Trade Union Congress (TUC)

Idris who was flanked from both sides by 

NLC President Joe Ajaero, TUC boss Festus Osifo, Labour Minister Nkiruka Onyejeocha, and other officials, assured that President Tinubu would submit the agreed amount as bill to the National Assembly for consideration and approval as new minimum wage for Nigerian workers 

“We are happy to announce today (Thursday) that both the Organised Labour and the Federal Government have agreed on 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,” an elated Idris told State House correspondents.

President of NLC also confirmed   ₦70,000 as agreement reached  on the issue of the minimum wage at the meeting with President Tinubu 

He added that part of the discussion was that the minimum wage would no longer wait till after five years to be reviewed. 

According to him, the agreement was that the minimum wage would now be reviewed every three years.

Ajaero then said that the Organised Labour would consult with their members on the ₦70,000 benchmark.

“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.

On the lingering issue of withheld four months salaries of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), the Minister of Labour,  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 both unions 

The “agreement” between the two sides followed a series of talks between labour leaders and the President in the last few weeks after months of failed talks between labour organs and a tripartite committee on minimum wage constituted by the President in January.

The committee, which comprised state and federal governments and the Organised Private Sector, had proposed ₦62,000 while labour insisted on ₦250,000 as the new minimum wage for workers who currently earn ₦30,000 as minimum wage. 

The information minister confirmed on Thursday that the ₦70,000 “agreed” amount would be communicated with the National Assembly in the coming days.

The presidency also promised to support both the governors who insisted on N57,000 and Organized Private Sector who raised fear of laying off most of the workforce ,if compel to pay beyond N62,000 minimum wage for workers as agreed at the tripartite meeting which the labour resisted