The Nigerian Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have disagreed over when negotiations for a new national minimum wage should begin, with organised labour insisting that preparations must start immediately.
The dispute followed an exchange of letters between the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Muhammad Dingyadi, and NLC President Joe Ajaero over the review of the N70,000 minimum wage signed into law in July 2024.
In a letter dated 13 October 2026, Ajaero rejected the government’s position that beginning another review was premature. He argued that the timetable under the original National Minimum Wage Act, 2019, remained relevant despite the subsequent amendment.
The NLC president urged the government to begin the process by calling for nominations and inaugurating the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Committee, which comprises representatives of the government, organised labour and employers.
“The time is now. The appropriate time is now,” Ajaero wrote in the letter shared on Thursday, warning that delaying negotiations would worsen the hardship facing Nigerian workers.
His response came a day after Dingyadi, in a letter dated 12 October, acknowledged receipt of a communique issued after a joint meeting of the NLC’s Central Working Committee and National Executive Council.
The minister maintained that the current minimum wage would become due for review on 1 June 2027. He argued that starting another review barely two years after the implementation of the N70,000 wage would be premature and could disrupt industrial relations.
NLC links wage demand to rising living costs
The disagreement comes amid growing pressure from organised labour over the rising cost of living and the declining purchasing power of workers.
In an Independence Day statement issued on 1 October, the NLC demanded an immediate reduction in petrol prices, a nationwide wage award and the commencement of negotiations for a new national minimum wage.
The statement, signed by Ajaero and titled Our Hope Depends on the Choices We Make and the Actions We Take, linked rising transportation, food, rent and education costs to the declining value of workers’ earnings.
The union also called for the implementation of tax relief measures agreed upon with the government in October 2023, arguing that workers should not continue to bear the burden of rising living costs without additional support.
Among its demands, the NLC urged the government to reduce petrol prices to the levels prevailing when the current minimum wage was signed into law in 2024.
It also called for negotiations on a new wage to begin before the end of October and demanded the implementation of outstanding agreements with health and public sector workers.
The union warned that failure to meet its demands within the stipulated period would compel it to take further action as directed by its relevant organs.
Dispute over statutory timetable
In his response to the minister, Ajaero argued that the National Minimum Wage Act, 2019, signed on 18 April of that year, had envisaged a review by April 2024.
He maintained that the 2024 amendment did not erase the original timetable and argued that a new minimum wage should take effect by 17 April 2027.
According to the NLC, negotiations should begin at least six months before the relevant deadline to allow time for preparatory work and prevent the accumulation of arrears.
Based on that calculation, the union said the process should commence by 17 October 2026.
The NLC stressed that it was not demanding the immediate implementation of a new minimum wage. Rather, it wants the government to begin the administrative and negotiation processes required to reach an agreement.
Dingyadi, however, maintained that the National Minimum Wage Act, 2019, as amended by the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, 2024, provides for a review every three years.
The disagreement therefore centres on how the statutory review timetable should be interpreted and when the process for negotiating a new minimum wage should begin.