FG Agreed on N155,000 Minimum Wage with Labour Unions in Nigeria? Fact Emerges

• An X user claimed in a post that the federal government had agreed on N155,000 as the new national minimum wage in Nigeria
• However, fact-checking reveals this claim to be false, with no official agreement reached by the 37-man Tripartite Committee or any party involved in the negotiations
• President Bola Tinubu’s Tripartite Committee is expected to conclude discussions by March and submit recommendations

TheTalk.NG journalist Nurudeen Lawal has 8 years of experience covering political campaigns and elections

A. Ayofe, an X user with the handle, @abdullahayofel, claimed in a post that the federal government has agreed on N155,000 as Nigeria’s new national minimum wage.

According to Ayofe, the federal government reached the new minimum wage agreement with the Nigeria Labour Union (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

The FG has not agreed on N155,000 minimum wage as claimed by an X user.
Photo credits: KOLA SULAIMON/AFP, Hollie Adams/BloombergSource: Getty Images

He added that the NLC and TUC leaders thanked all the members involved in the negotiations during a press conference.

The post reads:

“BREAKING NEWS:- The federal government has agreed on 155k as the new national minimum wage the NLC & TUC chairmans respectively thanked all the members involved in the negotiations in a press conference and urged the federal government and state governments to implement the minimum wage as earlier agreed on more details shortly…

Has FG truly agreed on N155,000 minimum wage?

The claim by Ayofe is false.

A fact check by Dubawa, has revealed that the federal government has not agreed on N155,000 as the new national minimum wage with Labour Unions or any other party.

Checks by TheTalk.NG also indicate that no agreement is yet to be reached amongst the 37-man Tripartite Committee for implementing the new minimum wage.

Moreover, no press statement has been issued by any of the parties involved in the negotiations nor is there a news report from any credible news platform on the purported agreement.

A recent report by The Punch cited a member of the committee as saying that President Bola Tinubu may announce the new minimum wage on May 1.

Meanwhile, the head of information at NLC, Mr Benson Upah, said that he was not aware of any agreement, according to PM News.

The deputy president I, of TUC, Dr Tommy Okon, was also cited as saying that he was not aware of such an agreement.

“That is not true; it is mischievous. We have not even started negotiating with the government on the minimum wage.

“Let them not mislead the public,” the TUC deputy president was quoted as saying

Minimum wage negotiations in Nigeria

The current minimum wage in Nigeria is N30,000. However, rising inflation in Nigeria has spurred Labour Unions to demand an increase in the national minimum wage to mitigate the impact of soaring living costs on workers.

In response, President Bola Tinubu inaugurated a Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage, chaired by Vice-President Kashim Shettima in January 2024.

This committee is entrusted with organising public hearings nationwide, engaging stakeholders from various sectors to negotiate a new minimum wage that reflects current economic realities.

Anticipated to conclude its deliberations by the end of March, the committee will present its findings and recommendations to the federal government. Subsequently, a bill will be forwarded to the National Assembly for approval of the newly agreed minimum wage.

NLC proposes N794k minimum wage, Shehu Sani reacts

Meanwhile, TheTalk.NG earlier reported that Shehu Sani, a former federal lawmaker, questioned the possibility of fulfilling the payment of a N794,000 minimum wage in Nigeria.

Via a tweet on his verified page on Friday, March 8, Sani pointed out that even with N30,000 minimum wage, “many states are still struggling to pay salaries”.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member said how the “N700,000 minimum wage” proposed by the NLC will be paid should be debated.

Source: TheTalk.NG

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