We’ve Not Reached Any Agreement on Minimum Wage as Claimed by President Tinubu – NLC
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has categorically refuted claims made by President Bola Tinubu regarding the ongoing National Minimum Wage negotiations. In a statement signed by the Union’s Acting President Prince Adewale Adeyanju and released on June 13, 2024, the NLC claimed that no agreement has been reached with the Federal Government or employers on the base figure for a new National Minimum Wage, contrary to the President’s assertions in his Democracy Day address.
During his June 12 Democracy Day speech, President Tinubu said that his administration “had negotiated in good faith and with open arms with organized labour on a new national minimum wage,” adding that an executive bill would soon be sent to the “National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law, for the next five years or less.”
Responding to President Tinubu’s speech, Adeyanju said that “while the President may have accurately recounted parts of our democratic journey’s history, it is evident that he has been misinformed regarding the outcome of the wage negotiation process.”
The NLC reaffirmed its position that no agreement had been reached on the National Minimum Wage.
“We neither reached any agreement with the Federal Government and the employers on the base figure for a National Minimum Wage nor on its other components,” Adeyanju stated. “Our demand still remains ₦250,000 (two hundred and fifty thousand Naira) 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.”
The statement further alleged that the President might have been misled.
“We believe that he may have been misled into believing that there was an agreement with the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC). There was none, and it is important that we let the President, Nigerians, and other national stakeholders understand this immediately to avoid a mix-up in the ongoing conversation around the national minimum wage.”
