Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria have fixed July 2026 as the official start date for renegotiating a new national minimum wage, even as they warned that any attempt to fast-track the process through legislation rather than collective bargaining would be met with stiff resistance.
The announcement was first made during the 2026 May Day celebration held at Eagle Square, Abuja, on Friday, May 1. Addressing thousands of workers under the theme "Insecurity, Poverty – Bane of Decent Work", NLC President Joe Ajaero declared that the renegotiation of the National Minimum Wage, which expires early next year, would commence by July to avoid the painful delays of the past. TUC President Festus Osifo stressed the need for strengthened social dialogue platforms, including the revitalisation of the National Labour Consultative Council, and warned that continued violations of labour laws by some employers and state governments would not be tolerated.
Pending the outcome of the talks, labour made a demand that has rattled government circles: every Nigerian worker must be paid 100 percent of his basic salary starting July 2026 until a new minimum wage is signed into law. The demand, contained in the jointly delivered May Day speech, is intended to cushion the effects of what Ajaero called a renewed crisis of survival facing Nigerian workers. He listed grim indicators: poverty rate rising to about 65 percent of the population, roughly 150 million Nigerians living in hardship, official inflation figures of around 16 percent that do not reflect the reality experienced daily by ordinary citizens, and about 10,000 people falling into poverty daily.
The labour message was amplified on the sidelines of the 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva, where Ajaero and Osifo addressed a joint media briefing. There, they issued a firm rebuttal to claims by some state governors that negotiations were already ongoing on a proposed N100,000 minimum wage. Labour leaders described such assertions as misleading and inconsistent with the realities of current engagements on workers’ welfare. The rejection came barely a week after Nigeria Governors' Forum chairman AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq urged President Bola Tinubu to support raising the national minimum wage to N100,000, a proposal that labour swiftly dismissed as premature, unconstitutional, and outside the mandate of the governors' forum.
The current minimum wage of N70,000 was signed into law by President Tinubu on July 29, 2024, following months of negotiations that replaced the previous N30,000 wage signed into law in 2019. That agreement included a provision for periodic reviews every three years, with the next formal review expected in 2027. By starting negotiations in July 2026, labour hopes to conclude the process before the current wage technically expires next year, avoiding the protracted deadlock that characterised previous wage negotiations.
While commending the federal government for reinstating gratuity payments, labour insisted that outstanding arrears must be cleared. The unions also urged state governors not to be in a hurry to fix any amount but to wait for the proper negotiating process to unfold. Ajaero expressed appreciation that governors had realised that the current seventy thousand naira minimum is no longer sufficient to cater for the basic needs of workers. But he added that any acceptable minimum wage figure must emerge through consultations and negotiations among relevant stakeholders, not through unilateral legislation.
The stakes are high. Official data shows that four states have not commenced implementation of the current minimum wage, while Abia State owes workers as much as 18 months of unpaid salaries. Labour argues that any attempt by governors to impose a new wage peg through political announcements rather than the statutory negotiating process would set a dangerous precedent. Already, the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council has described the governors' intervention as "a charade" and an attempt to assume responsibilities reserved for legally recognised wage-negotiating institutions.
As July approaches, organised labour has made its position clear: the negotiation table is open, but any attempt to bypass the established tripartite framework will be met with decisive resistance. For the millions of Nigerian workers who have watched the purchasing power of the N70,000 wage evaporate under the weight of inflation and insecurity, July cannot come soon enough.
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