The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has urged the Federal Government to review its minimum wage, maintaining that state governments that initially claimed they were unable to afford higher wages are now paying more than the Federal Government.

The ₦70,000 minimum wage in Nigeria became law on July 29, 2024, when President Bola Tinubu signed the National Minimum Wage Act.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, Ajaero said labour accepted the ₦70,000 minimum wage partly because President Bola Tinubu asked them to consider the financial capacity of state governments. According to him, the President indicated that he could afford a higher amount but raised concerns about what the states could pay.

“Part of the reason we agreed on 70,000, the president said, and I quote, you know, I can afford to pay 150,000, you know, but the sub-nationals, you have to put them into consideration in deciding, you know, this ₦70,000 Naira minimum wage and we were keyed into it,” Ajaero said.

The NLC president said the negotiations had reached a deadlock over ₦60,000 before direct talks between labour and the President produced the ₦70,000 agreement. “That was a negotiation between us and the president directly, not the minimum wage committee,” he said.

However, Ajaero said subsequent wage decisions by state governments had called into question the affordability concerns raised during the negotiations. He cited Imo State as paying ₦104,000, saying some other states were paying ₦100,000, ₦85,000, ₦84,000 and ₦75,000.

“I think the least could be 72 or more. All the states are paying more than the federal government,” he said.

Ajaero questioned why the Federal Government had retained its rate despite the higher amounts he said states were paying. He argued that the development warranted a fresh assessment of the Federal Government’s position on workers’ pay. “So I think it’s incumbent on the federal government to go back to the drawing board and find out what is happening,” he said.

FG 30-Day Fuel Discount ‘Panicky Measure’

Speaking on the 30-day fuel discount by the Federal Government, Ajaero said it has not changed organised labour’s ultimatum for fresh minimum wage negotiations and other measures to ease workers’ hardship. He questioned the temporary intervention, saying it did not adequately address labour’s concerns about petrol prices and workers’ purchasing power.

“It’s better we take it from the point of the ultimatum we gave two days ago. And this piece of information has not altered anything,” he said.

The NLC president described the announcement as a “panicky measure” and questioned how a discount at Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited outlets would affect prices charged by other marketers. “Other marketers are not like the NNPC. So they should tell us what other marketers will sell,” he said.

Ajaero said petrol sold for between ₦650 and ₦750 per litre when labour agreed to the ₦70,000 minimum wage. He argued that the government needed to explain the proposed intervention and what would happen when it expired. “We need to get the whole information from them and know what it’s actually all about,” he said. “Within 30 days, after 30 days, what happens?”

Clarifying the demands behind the two-week ultimatum, Ajaero said labour was seeking renewed minimum wage negotiations, an interim wage award and appropriate pricing for Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol. “Exactly. It’s around minimum wage, not a wage award. Around minimum wage, a wage award as an interventionary measure between now and when the minimum wage will be concluded,” he said. “And then getting the appropriate pricing for a PMS. Those are three key items.”

He also called for tax relief, which he said formed part of labour’s 2023 agreement with the Federal Government but had yet to be implemented.

Asked whether the government had engaged labour before the fuel discount announcement, Ajaero accused the administration of failing to maintain dialogue with the NLC or respond to its correspondence. “The federal government does not dialogue. In the last two, three years, you know, no conversation. Letters are not even attended to,” he said.