President Bola Tinubu might announce a new minimum wage on May 1, International Labour Day, with the implementation backdated to April. The National Minimum Wage Committee is finalizing negotiations for the new rate. Minimum wage is the lowest amount employers must pay their workers legally. Nigeria’s minimum wage has been N30,000 since 2018, but there are demands for an increase due to economic challenges.
A member of the National Minimum Wage Committee, speaking anonymously, mentioned that the committee plans to meet next week. During this meeting, they will gather reports from the zonal public hearings to decide on the next steps.
Our goal is to ensure that the minimum wage announcement by Mr. President happens by May 1st, which is Workers’ Day, with the effective date set for April. Therefore, we are working to meet this timeline,” the member said. The member also mentioned that it’s unlikely the new rate will start by the end of March because there’s still a long way to go in determining an acceptable minimum wage for the country. “We haven’t reached the negotiation stage yet. After collecting feedback from the zones, the main committee will decide the next steps. Now that the zones have been addressed, the committee will gather all the feedback and positions,” the source explained. “We will consider the positions of NLC, TUC, NECA (the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association), and the government. Then, we will calculate a percentage and reach an agreement on what is acceptable,” the source concluded.
According to the report, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed, could not be reached. Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, stated that he was not fully aware of the internal discussions of the committee but confirmed that talks were ongoing among the committee members. He emphasized that the committee members were aware of the urgency of their task.
However, a presidential aide, speaking anonymously, suggested that Tinubu might not wait until May 1 to announce
the minimum wage,” the aide said. “The law requires negotiations to be completed by April, so if the parties agree, there should be no need to wait for an announcement.”
In the meantime, the organized labor, including the National Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, have warned state governors that failure to fully implement the new minimum wage could result in a prolonged industrial action and a social crisis.
The labor union stated that the current N30,000 minimum wage is unrealistic, pointing to the severe economic crisis. The country’s headline inflation reached a 27-year high of 31.70 percent in February, up from 29.90 percent in January.
In January, the Federal Government set up a committee to discuss the national minimum wage. Vice President Kashim Shettima inaugurated the 37-member panel at the Council Chamber of the State House in Abuja. The committee includes representatives from the federal and state governments, the private sector, and organized labor. Their task is to propose a revised minimum wage.
During zonal public hearings in Lagos, Kano, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, and Abuja, workers in different regions requested varying minimum wages. For example, workers in the North-West requested N485,000; North-East, N560,000; North-Central, N709,000 (NLC) and N447,000 (TUC); South-West, N794,000; South-South, N850,000; and South-East, N540,000 (NLC) and N447,000 (TUC).
However, the governments of Adamawa and Bauchi states suggested N45,000 as the new minimum wage.
The NLC stated that governors who do not implement the new minimum wage, once it becomes law, would be breaking the law. They are working to ensure that tougher sanctions are imposed on such governors.
