Minimum wage: Our demand still remains N250,000 – NLC

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has insisted on N250,000 as minimum wage and faulted President Bola Tinubu’s comment over the matter.

The committee on the new minimum wage had submitted its report to the federal government, pegging its offer at N62,000.

President Tinubu during his Democracy Day speech said an executive bill on the new national minimum wage for workers will soon be sent to the National Assembly for passage.

But the NLC has faulted the remark, insisting it won’t back down on its demand.

“The NLC would have expected that the advisers of the President would have told him that 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,” the NLC said in a statement by Adewale Adeyanju standing in for Joe Ajaero who is in Geneva, Switzerland, for the ILO Conference.

“Our demand still remains N250,000 (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.”

No ‘Agreement’

The NLC said it had not reached any agreement with the federal government on a new minimum wage.

According to the union, it has not received a copy of the document on a new minimum wage submitted to Tinubu.

“We are therefore surprised at the submission of Mr. President over a supposed agreement. We believe that he may have been misled into believing that there was an agreement with the NLC and TUC,” he said.

“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. We have also not seen a copy of the document submitted to him and will not accept any doctored document.”

The NLC maintained its stance on not accepting “any national minimum wage figure that approximates to a starvation wage”.

“We cannot be working and yet remain in abject poverty. We seek justice, equity, and fairness for all Nigerians and this we hope would also drive the actions of Mr. President who promised a Living Wage to Nigerian workers. This is an opportunity to show that he listens to Nigerians as he promised!” NLC’s statement read.