Several state governments across Nigeria have rejected the proposed new minimum wage put forward by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), deeming it unrealistic and unsustainable. Instead, these states have offered their own suggestions for the new minimum wage for workers within their respective jurisdictions.
This development comes in the wake of town hall meetings held across the six geo-political zones of the country to discuss the proposed new minimum wage. At these meetings, the NLC proposed a minimum wage of N709,000, while the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) recommended N447,000.
However, the proposals presented by the NLC and TUC were met with skepticism and rejection by several state governments. In the Northeast, for example, Labour proposed a minimum wage of N560,000 per month, while in the Southeast, the proposed figure stood at N540,000 per month.
In the Southwest, Labour suggested N794,000 as the minimum wage, while in the Southsouth, the proposed minimum wage was at least N850,000 per month. In the Northwest, Labour proposed N485,000 per month.
Despite these proposals, some states have put forward their own figures for the new minimum wage, ranging from N45,000 to N80,000.
In Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Head of Service (HoS), Bode Agoro, stated that while no specific figure was mentioned, Lagos has implemented a minimum wage of N41,500, higher than the current national minimum wage of N30,000.
Similarly, Plateau State proposed N60,000, N70,000, and N80,000, while Nasarawa State urged the Tripartite Committee to allow renegotiation due to economic realities. Niger State expressed willingness to pay any amount fixed by the committee.
Other states, such as Bauchi, Adamawa, Gombe, Taraba, and Katsina, also proposed minimum wages ranging from N45,000 to N60,000.
The current minimum wage of N30,000 came into effect in April 2019. In January 2024, the Federal Government, under President Bola Tinubu, constituted a 37-member Tripartite Committee to negotiate and agree on the new minimum wage, expected to take effect this year.
