Labour Reacts As FG Step Down New Minimum Wage Memo

The Organised Labour has kicked against the Federal Executive Council’s decision to step down the memorandum on the report of the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage.

The Head of Public Relations of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Benson Upah, who criticised the failure of FEC to consider the memo during Tuesday’s FEC meeting, said stepping down the tripartite committee report “creates room for injurious speculations.”

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, on Tuesday while briefing State House correspondents on the decisions taken at the council meeting said the FEC has stepped down from consideration and deliberation on the memo on the new minimum wage to allow President Bola Tinubu to engage in more consultation with stakeholders.

He said the President has studied the report submitted by the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage and would consult further before a final submission on a new national minimum wage to the National Assembly.

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“I want to inform Nigerians here that the Federal Executive Council deliberated on that [the report of the tripartite committee on the new national minimum wage],” he said.

“The decision is that because the new national minimum wage is not just that of the Federal Government. It is an issue that involves the Federal Government, the state governments, local governments, the organised private sector, and of course, including the organised labour.

“That memo was stepped down to enable Mr. President to consult further, especially with the state governors and the organised private sector, before he makes a presentation [of an executive bill] to the National Assembly.”

Reacting to the FEC’s decision, the NLC spokesman, Upah, declared that stepping down the minimum wage memo did not bode well for workers.

When asked if the decision to postpone the consideration of the minimum wage memo was a waste of time, he responded, “Definitely, stepping down the minimum wage memo does not bode well with or for us. It creates room for injurious speculations.”

The Deputy National President of the TUC, Tommy Etim, said he expected the President to address the ‘grey areas’ ahead of the transmission of the executive bill on the new minimum wage to the National Assembly.

“I want to believe that the government is very conscious of the grey areas which organised labour has pointed at, especially the amount to be accepted by every party involved, the frequency of review and criteria for the review and application.

“These, amongst others, are the burning issues which to the best of my knowledge need to be addressed before its consideration by FEC to the National Assembly,’’ he noted.

Talks for a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers have been on for a while. The Minimum Wage Act of 2019, which made ₦30,000 the minimum wage, expired in April 2024. The Act should be reviewed every five years to meet with contemporary economic demands of workers.

President Tinubu in January set up a Tripartite Committee to negotiate a new minimum wage for workers. The committee comprises the Organised Labour, representatives of federal and state governments as well as the Organised Private Sector.