You Have Been Misinformed, No Agreement On Minimum Wage – NLC Replies Tinubu

The Nigerian Labour Congress has reacted to a claim by President Bola Tinubu in his Democracy Day address, in which he claimed that his government had reached an agreement with the organised Labour on a national minimum wage.

Tinubu, noted that based on a consensus reached with organised Labour, an executive bill will soon be sent to the National Assembly to formalise the new minimum wage agreement.

However, the NLC has denied reaching any agreement with the federal government. The ag. President of the NLC, Adewale Adeyanju, in a statement on Wednesday, argued that the Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage did not reach an agreement at the time negotiations ended on Friday, June 7, 2024.

He explained that Organised Labour presented a final demand of N250,000, while the government’s team presented an offer of N62,000, which was rejected. 

He added that the President must have been misinformed or presented with a doctored agreement.

He said, “We reiterate that it will be extremely difficult for Nigerian workers to accept any national minimum wage figure that approximates to a starvation Wage. We cannot be working and yet remain in abject poverty.

“The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) attentively listened to the Democracy Day Presidential address delivered by His Excellency, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, especially concerning the ongoing National Minimum Wage negotiations. While the President may have accurately recounted parts of our democratic journey’s history, it is evident that he has been misinformed regarding the outcome of the wage negotiation process.

“The NLC would have expected that the advisers of the President would have told him that we neither reached any agreement with the federal government and the employers on the base figure for a National Minimum Wage nor on its other components.

“We are therefore surprised at the submission of Mr. President over a supposed agreement. We believe that he may have been misled into believing that there was an agreement with the NLC and TUC. There was none and it is important that we let the President, Nigerians and other national stakeholders understand this immediately to avoid a mix-up in the ongoing conversation around the national minimum wage. We have also not seen a copy of the document submitted to him and will not accept any doctored document.”

Adeyanju, while commending the President for expressing his commitment to democratic ideals, recalled that representatives of the government employed intimidation, harassment and media propaganda during the negotiation.

“Fully armed soldiers surrounded us while we were in a negotiation with the Government and despite denials, recent statements by senior officials of the Government reaffirmed our fears contrary to the assurances by the Government. However, we remain assured that the President’s democratic credentials will come to the fore in favour of Nigerian workers and masses,” he stated.

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