By Abiola Olawale
The Federal Government and Organised Labour have both reached a consensus on a new national minimum wage of ₦70,000 for Nigerian workers.
This was revealed by the Minister of Information Mohammed Idris.
The minister who made these known during a press conference at the presidential villa said the agreement was reached at a meeting between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Thursday.
NLC President Joe Ajaero, TUC boss Festus Osifo, Labour Minister Nkiruka Onyejeocha, and other officials flanked the minister during the press conference on Thursday.
Idris said: “We are happy to announce today (Thursday) that both the Organised Labour and the Federal Government have agreed on an increase in the N62,000 minimum wage. The new national minimum that Mr President is expected to submit to the National Assembly is ₦70,000.”
The New Diplomat reports that the development comes after Tinubu held a series of meetings with Organised labour last week.
The President held talks with the two unions following months of failed talks between labour organs and a tripartite committee on minimum wage constituted by the President in January.
It would be recalled that the committee which comprised state and federal governments and the Organised Private Sector had proposed ₦62,000 while labour insisted on ₦250,000 as the new minimum wage for workers.
