NLC President Joe Ajaero. Photo: thecable.ng
• Labour demands immediate negotiations, petrol price cuts
• Govt insists early review violates three-year wage cycle
The Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have clashed over the timing of negotiations for a new national minimum wage, with labour demanding the immediate commencement of the process and economic relief for workers, while the government insists that a review before June 2027 would be premature and inconsistent with the law.
The disagreement centres on the interpretation of the National Minimum Wage Act, 2019, as amended in 2024, and the worsening cost-of-living crisis, which the NLC said eroded the purchasing power of workers earning the N70,000 minimum wage.
While the government maintains that the existing wage is due for review on June 1, 2027, the congress argues that preparations for negotiations should begin immediately to allow sufficient time for discussions and prevent delays in implementing a new wage.
In a letter dated October 13, 2026, addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, and signed by its president, Joe Ajaero, NLC demanded the immediate commencement of the renegotiation process, including the call for nominations and inauguration of a tripartite committee.
The congress said, statutorily, negotiations should commence by October 17, 2026.
The demand followed the minister’s letter of October 12, 2026, rejecting labour’s call for an early review and arguing that commencing negotiations barely two years into the implementation of the present wage would be premature, inconsistent with the law and disruptive to the industrial relations system.
The October 12 letter by the NLC to the minister was the communiqué of its recent National Executive Council (NEC), where it made its demands to the Federal Government on the plight of Nigerian workers and the need for the government to take action.
Responding, the minister said the National Minimum Wage Act provided for a review every three years, adding that the N70,000 minimum wage would become due for review on June 1, 2027.
He noted that President Bola Tinubu assented to the present wage on July 29, 2024, following negotiations involving the Federal Government, organised labour and the organised private sector, resulting in an increase of more than 133 per cent from the previous N30,000.
