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The federal government has proposed the sum of ₦62,000 (sixty-two thousand naira) as the new national minimum wage. This comes after several hours of meeting yesterday between representatives of the federal government, organised private sector and labour leaders. It also follows the submission of cost analysis by the finance minister, Wale Edun to the president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
This proposal brings an end to deliberations of the tripartite committee set up by the government to address minimum wage concerns. The committee’s recommendations will now be forwarded to the president, who will then send an executive bill to the National Assembly for approval.
On the other hand, the organised labour unions are proposing ₦250,000 as minimum wage, a shift from the initial demand of ₦494,000. While the government and organised private sector considered the initial ₦494,000 proposal by labour unions excessive, the unions felt the N60,000 counteroffer was insufficient. Both parties, however, acknowledge that the current ₦30,000 minimum wage no longer reflects the nation’s economic reality.
It’s worth noting that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) recently embarked on a week-long nationwide strike protesting the stagnant minimum wage and a recent rise in electricity tariffs. This strike significantly impacted critical sectors, with workers in schools, businesses, hospitals, and even airports walking off the job. The national grid shutdown also plunged the country into darkness.
However, on Tuesday, the unions paused the strike to allow uninterrupted negotiations with the government on a new national minimum wage, giving the federal government one week to come up with a new minimum wage.
Following the strike, negotiations resumed with labour offering a one-week deadline to propose a new minimum wage. Labour unions have not yet confirmed whether they will accept the N62,000 proposal. When questioned by Channels TV, TUC president Festus Osifo expressed dissatisfaction with piecemeal adjustments, indicating a desire for more substantial concessions, “No, we also told them that it’s not that we’d get to the table and you start adding ₦1, ₦2, ₦3,000 as you were doing and we got some good guarantees here and there that they would do something good” he said.
Meanwhile, state governors have urged the tripartite committee to reach a fair and sustainable minimum wage agreement. They argue that the initial ₦60,000 proposal by the federal government is not sustainable and cannot fly. A statement from the forum’s acting director, of media affairs and public relations, Halima Ahmed, warned that such a high wage could lead states to exhaust their monthly allocations solely on employee salaries.
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