President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, has dismissed criticisms suggesting that the push for a new national minimum wage in Nigeria has lost momentum.
In response to such claims, Osifo stated that the Federal Government is actively engaging with all relevant stakeholders, including the Nigerian Governors Forum, Local Government Administrators, the Organised Private Sector, and Labour Unions.
Osifo emphasized that both unions remain firm on their demand for a N250,000 minimum wage, a recommendation put forward to the President by the Presidential Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage.
Referencing the existing N30,000 minimum wage, which took two years to negotiate, Osifo assured that the Tripartite Committee has made significant progress since negotiations began in January 2024.
“Minimum wage negotiations cannot be dead,” Osifo said. “In 2017, we started the minimum wage discussions that culminated in the 2019 agreement, which took about two years. When we began this in January, we promised to expedite the process to avoid a similar delay.”
Osifo highlighted the recent submission of divergent positions in June and noted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has initiated consultations with various groups to ensure a comprehensive approach.
“Mr. President has been consulting with governors, local government chairmen, the organised private sector, and labour. We are working internally to ensure that the minimum wage bill submitted to the National Assembly will address the needs of the poorest. Despite media silence, significant internal work is ongoing, and we still insist on the N250,000 benchmark as the ideal minimum wage.”
