The leader of the Nigerian labour Union has reiterated no agreement has been reached with the federal government regarding the minimum wage. He made the remarks during a nationwide broadcast on Wednesday.
he Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in a nationwide broadcast on Wednesday, countered allegations of an agreement that has been reached on a new national minimum wage with the federal government. He insisted that the Unions’ demand for a new national minimum wage remains N250,000.
This comes to fault President Bola Tinubu’s remarks on Democracy day that a consensus had been reached on the long-debated new minimum wage between the federal government and the organised labour.
The president revealed that an executive bill would soon be sent to the National Assembly to formalise the new minimum wage agreement. According to President Tinubu, the executive Bill will be sent to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of the law for the next five years or less.
But in a statement on Wednesday, the acting President of NLC, Prince Adewale Adeyanju, said there was no agreement reached by the Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage at the time negotiations ended on Friday, June 7, 2024.
He said, « Our demand still remains N250,000 only, and we have not been given any compelling reasons to change this position which we consider a great concession by Nigerian workers during the tripartite negotiation process. »
While affirming those at the meeting did not tell the president the true situation, the statement read that they would not accept any wage that would keep workers in abject poverty.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said though the federal government will not accept a wage that would undermine the economy, he affirmed the government will keep on advocating for a realistic and sustainable wage system for a worker.
