Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has urged the Federal Government to immediately improve workers’ salaries and allowances rather than wait until the next review of the national minimum wage.
TUC President, Festus Osifo, made the call on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, while briefing journalists in Abuja after a meeting of the union’s National Administrative Council.
Osifo said the government does not need to wait for a new Minimum Wage Act before improving the earnings of federal workers, stressing that the national minimum wage should serve as a statutory wage floor and not a ceiling on workers’ salaries.
According to him, the Federal Government could independently decide to increase the pay of its lowest-paid employees and adjust the salary structure upwards.
He gave ₦200,000 and ₦400,000 as examples of what the government could choose to pay its least-paid workers.
“Government can wake up today and say, ‘Okay, I want to pay the least-paid worker in the Federal Government payroll N200,000,’ for example. They could say, ‘Let the least-paid worker be N400,000,’ for example, and graduate it upwards,” Osifo said.
The TUC president maintained that such an adjustment would not require a fresh review of the national minimum wage because employers are free to pay above the statutory minimum.
He cited the banking, food and beverage, and oil and gas sectors, where he said salaries are generally determined by the nature and value of jobs rather than simply by the national minimum wage.
Osifo also called for a review of workers’ allowances, noting that allowances could be adjusted separately from the minimum wage.
He said TUC had already engaged government officials, including the Minister of Finance and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, on measures aimed at improving workers’ welfare.
The labour leader said workers should not have to wait until the next statutory wage review before seeing improvements in their incomes, particularly amid continuing economic pressures.
Nigeria’s current national minimum wage is ₦70,000. It was signed into law in 2024 for a three-year period, meaning the next statutory review is due in 2027. Osifo said organised labour was already preparing for that review but maintained that the government could take steps to improve workers’ welfare before then.
The TUC position therefore centres on the distinction between the statutory minimum wage and actual salaries: while ₦70,000 is the legal wage floor, the government can choose to pay its employees substantially more without waiting for the minimum wage law to be amended.
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