After a lengthy meeting with labor leaders in Abuja, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, made an announcement late Monday. He stated that the President is “committed to a national minimum wage that is higher than N60,000”. Akume mentioned, “The tripartite committee is to meet every day for the next one week with a view to arriving at an agreeable national minimum wage.” He added that Organized Labour, in deference to the high esteem of the President, agreed to convene a meeting of its organs immediately to consider the commitment of the President. The meeting included the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, and his counterpart in the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo.
On the government’s side were Akume; Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris Malagi; and Labour Minister Nkiruka Onyejeocha; among others. Businesses, airports, universities, hospitals, and power supply were affected as Labor began an indefinite strike on Monday over Labor’s demand for a new minimum wage. Both NLC and TUC said the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 can no longer cater to the well-being of an average Nigerian worker, lamenting that not all governors are paying the current wage award which expired in April 2024, five years after the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 was signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari. The Act should be reviewed every five years to meet the contemporary economic demands of workers. Labor later handed the Federal Government a May 31 deadline for the new minimum wage. On May 31, the workers’ organs in the country declared a nationwide strike beginning on Monday, June 3, 2024, over the government committee’s inability to agree on a new minimum wage and reversal of the electricity tariff hike.
During the failed talks with the government, Labor rejected three government offers, the latest being N60,000. The TUC and the NLC subsequently pulled out of negotiations, insisting on ₦494,000 as the new minimum wage.