Minimum Wage: FG ‘Open’ to N65,000 Raise, Governors Insist N57,000, NLC Silent

The battle for a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers is far from over as the Federal Government and state Governors have presented conflicting figures, which contradict what the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) is demanding.

Labour had initially asked for N615,000 but revised it to N494,000 after several negotiations with the FG, which countered with N57,000 and later shifted to N60,000.

On Friday, the state Governors under the umbrella of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) rejected the N60,000 minimum wage, noting that it’s unsustainable. Reports say they’re not willing to agree to any deal above N57,000.

“The FG has literally shaved our heads in our absence. Though we had nominal representations, they were not allowed to come back to us for proper consultation,” Punch cited one of the Governors, who spoke anonymously.

A few hours after the NGF statement circulated, the Federal Government announced a new minimum wage increase of N62,000. 

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This fulfilled President Bola Tinubu’s promise that he’d top the N60,000 rejected by labour, after the workers crippled the nation’s economy on Monday with a nationwide strike.

According to a source in FG’s negotiation team, the government is still open to raising the new minimum wage to N65,000.

“Actually, FG’s position is that we can pay as much as N65,000 because the President believed in a quick and amicable solution,” the source told Punch.

As of the time of filing this report, the NLC has yet to respond to the new official proposal of N62,000 by the FG and the NGF’s position.