The organised labour on Monday expressed its excitement and demanded speedy implementation as President Bola Tinubu signed into law the new National Minimum Wage Act.
“We are happy and urge government to sustain the same momentum in the calculation of consequential adjustments, payment of the new minimum wage and arrears,” the Head of Public Affairs of the Nigeria Labour Congress,Benson Upah, told The PUNCH.
Similarly, the Deputy Vice President of the Trade Union Congress, Tommy Etim, said, “It is a welcome development and we expect the immediate implementation by the federal, state government and the organised private sector.”
Tinubu signed the new law at 02 pm at the Council Chamber of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja
The brief ceremony was witnessed by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, and the House Leader, Prof. Julius Ihonvberem, who represented the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.
The signing of the law came nearly two weeks after President Tinubu and the organised labour unions—comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria—agreed on N70,000 as the new minimum wage.
On July 18, the Federal Government, organised labour and the private sector concluded months-long negotiations on the minimum wage when Tinubu haggled down labour’s N250,000/month demand to N70,000/month.
Akpabio, who addressed State House Correspondents after the signing ceremony, said, “I’m ecstatic. I’m excited about the Nigerian worker and the national minimum wage amendment, which applies to the whole nation, the Federal Government, the states, the local governments, the private sector, and even individual employers.
“So, I think this is a great day for the workers in the country. We are not only doubling the minimum wage, but we have also added something on top. Initially, it was N30,000; now, it is N70,000.”
He emphasised that with the N70,000 new minimum wage, “no Nigerian worker will offer services and be paid anything less than N70,000 from today.
“That is the implication of this Act. It applies all over the nation. And we are excited that this is happening at a time like this through President Bola Tinubu.
“Like I said, this is not the maximum. Any employer with a capacity can pay as much as you want.
“And you’ve seen what we are doing in the National Assembly. When it came, the entire National Assembly moved and passed the bill in one day out of excitement. We felt that this was not something we could delay.”
The Senate President also disclosed that the President will on Wednesday sign the 2024 budget amendment bill into law.
“We have gone very far with it. And I expect that it will be signed by Wednesday,” Akpabio responded when asked about the reviewed Act meant to finance the new minimum wage.
On July 15, the Federal Executive Council mandated the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning to prepare a bill to amend the 2024 Budget.
A week later, Tinubu wrote the Senate requesting it to amend the 2024 Appropriation Act and the 2023 Finance Act by increasing the budget by ₦6.2tn.
Tinubu’s letter was addressed to the Senate President and read at plenary.
The President said the move was under Section 58 (2) of the Constitution.
The Senate approved the ₦6.2tn amendment to the 2024 Appropriation Act, raising the year’s national budget from ₦28.7tn to ₦35.055tn.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government allayed fears of non-compliance with the new minimum wage, saying the extensive negotiations and consensus-building undertaken from early February to July meant all the relevant stakeholders were involved.
The Minister of State for Labour, Mrs. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, affirmed this when she briefed journalists after Monday’s Federal Executive Council meeting.
“What should a Labour Minister do when people don’t pay? The most important thing is that this minimum wage has been passed and that all Nigerians were involved—all the stakeholders, the governors, the representatives of the local government, which is ARGON and of course, the organised private sector and organised labour and the government itself.
“Conversations were held and it passed through the process, and it has become a law and I believe that we are responsible Nigerians and we want to promise Nigerians that we’re going to do that.
“When you have a strong leader, who has the goodwill of the people he governs and there is cooperation, I believe that everybody will comply with what is agreed upon.”
Onyejeocha also stated that the FG would uphold its promise to backdate the payment of the adjusted wages from May 2024.
“When I did the May broadcast about the payment schedule, whether we are going to start on May 1.
“I think it is being considered because what I read was exactly what was in agreement of October 2, 2023, and I believe that those things are still being considered, but the most important thing is that the minimum wage has been signed,” she said.
