Nigeria Labour Congress Denies Tinubu’s Claims Over Minimum Wage Agreement

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) denied President Bola Tinubu's claims that a new minimum wage agreement had been reached.

The president announced on Democracy Day (Tuesday) that the federal government and labor groups had agreed on a new national minimum wage, adding that an executive bill would soon go to the National Assembly to finalize the agreement.

However, acting president of the NLC, Adewale Adeyanju, said on Wednesday that no agreement has been reached by the Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage. It is the Tripartite Committee's job to advise and suggest a national minimum wage that fits Nigeria's economy in the current conditions.

"Our demand remains N250,000, and we have not been presented with any compelling reasons to alter this position, which we consider a significant concession by Nigerian workers during the negotiation process," Adeyanju said, as per Premium Times.

He said that it was important to clarify to Tinubu, Nigerians, and others that there seems to be confusion about the outcome of the negotiations, stressing that the information given to the president wasn't entirely correct about how the negotiations concluded on Jun. 7.

"It will be extremely difficult for Nigerian workers to accept any national minimum wage that equates to a starvation wage. We cannot continue to work and yet live in abject poverty," he added.

The NLC president praised Tinubu's commitment to democratic principles, which allowed the committee to work without any interference. However, he noted that the union would've been happy if Tinubu had chosen the workers' side by aligning with one of the two figures proposed by the Tripartite Committee.

He pointed out that this would be a fitting gesture for Democracy Day, once again stressing that there has been no agreement with the federal government or employers on the minimum wage amount or its components.

During the last meeting of the committee held in Abuja, labor lowered the demand from N494,000 to N250,000. The federal government, on the other hand, raised its offer from N60,000 to N62,000. At that time, the government representatives said they would discuss this new figure with Tinubu for approval.