• 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.

The government also cited efforts to secure compliance with the existing wage by state governments and private employers, alongside interventions under the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, food security measures and other social support programmes, as part of measures to address workers’ economic difficulties.

It maintained that the government remained committed to tripartism, decent work and workers’ welfare, assuring the NLC that a National Minimum Wage Tripartite Committee would be convened at the appropriate time.

The minister urged the congress to sustain constructive engagement with the government to preserve industrial peace and harmony.

However, NLC faulted the government’s interpretation of the law, arguing that preparations for negotiations should begin before the present wage framework expires.

It warned that postponing preparations until the existing framework expires could delay the outcome of negotiations and worsen the economic hardship facing workers.

The NLC also rejected the government’s reliance on the reported 133 per cent wage increase and its intervention programmes as evidence that workers were receiving meaningful relief.

According to the congress, the increase from N30,000 to N70,000 has been eroded by the devaluation of the naira and rising living costs, which it attributed largely to the government’s macroeconomic policies, particularly increases in petrol prices.

It said workers were struggling to afford transportation, food, shelter, healthcare and education, arguing that the present wage was no longer sufficient to meet basic household needs.

The union further argued that the CNG initiative had been undermined by inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of promised gas and vehicle conversion kits, limiting its capacity to cushion the effect of higher transport costs.

Consequently, the NLC demanded immediate economic interventions, including implementation of the tax relief agreed upon in 2023, payment of wage awards to workers and a reduction in petrol prices to the level prevailing when the present minimum wage was signed into law in 2024.

It also urged the Federal Government to implement the settlement terms with the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and address the demands of the Joint Public Sector Negotiating Council (JPSNC).

While acknowledging the Ministry of Labour’s prompt response to its earlier resolutions, the congress said an acknowledgement without concrete timelines and immediate relief measures amounted to rhetoric.

Urging the government to act expeditiously, labour warned that continued delays in the minimum wage negotiation process and the absence of direct economic relief would deepen the hardship confronting Nigerian workers.