On Thursday, Minister of Finance Wale Edun presented President Bola Tinubu with the estimated cost implications of implementing a new national minimum wage.
According to Sahara Reporters, Edun proposed a new minimum wage of N105,000 to the president.
Previously, the Nigerian government had assured that it would propose a new minimum wage higher than N60,000.
However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) criticized the government for failing to fulfill this promise.
In a video posted on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, the NLC noted that as of Thursday morning, no new minimum wage had been offered.
They mentioned that the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, had not yet prepared a new wage template, despite being instructed to do so by President Tinubu.
On June 4, President Tinubu directed Edun to present a new wage template within two days. However, as of the morning of June 6, the NLC pointed out that no new wage proposal had been made.
There is ongoing disagreement between organized labor and the government. While labor groups are demanding a wage of N494,000, the government initially proposed N60,000.
Following the start of an indefinite nationwide strike on Monday, which was later relaxed for one week, the government committed to paying above N60,000.
Later on Thursday, Finance Minister Edun, alongside the Minister of Budget and National Planning Atiku Bagudu, submitted the cost implications of the new minimum wage to President Tinubu at the presidential villa in Abuja.
After the meeting, Edun assured State House correspondents that there was “no cause for alarm.”
Despite the government’s commitment to pay more than N60,000, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) President, Comrade Festus Osifo, stated that no new offer had been presented.
He clarified that discussions had only covered principles, with no concrete wage proposal yet.
Osifo also mentioned that he hoped a concrete proposal would be available when they reconvene.
For now, the government has only discussed what is necessary to make the new minimum wage work, without presenting any specific new offer.
