The Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) are at odds over the timing of talks on a new national minimum wage, as organized labor disputes the government’s reading of the law and insists that preparations start right away.
The standoff came after letters were exchanged between the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Muhammad Dingyadi, and NLC President Joe Ajaero regarding the schedule for reviewing the N70,000 minimum wage that was signed into law in July 2024.
In a letter dated 13 October, 2026, Ajaero dismissed the government’s claim that a new review would be too early, contending that the statutory timetable set out in the original National Minimum Wage Act, 2019, still applied notwithstanding the 2024 amendment.
According to him, the government ought to kick off the process by inviting nominations and inaugurating the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Committee, which unites the government, organized labor, and employers.
“The time is now. The appropriate time is now,” Ajaero wrote in the letter shared on Thursday, arguing that delaying the process would worsen the hardship facing Nigerian workers.
His response came a day after Dingyadi, in a letter dated October 12, confirmed receipt of a communique issued following a joint meeting of the NLC’s Central Working Committee and National Executive Council.
The minister stated that the existing minimum wage would be due for review on 1 June, 2027, and contended that starting another review only about two years after the N70,000 wage took effect would be premature and disruptive to industrial relations.
This latest exchange unfolds amid mounting pressure from the labor movement over the rising cost of living and the shrinking purchasing power of workers.
In an Independence Day statement on 1 October, the country’s largest labor union called for an immediate cut in petrol prices, a nationwide wage award, and the start 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,” tied the rising costs of transportation, food, rent, and education to the falling value of workers’ earnings.
Workers also pressed for the implementation of tax relief measures agreed with the government in October 2023, contending that the union should not keep bearing the burden of rising living costs without extra support.
The NLC demanded that petrol prices be brought down to the levels in force when the current minimum wage was signed into law in 2024, that negotiations for a new wage start before the end of October, and that outstanding agreements with health and public sector workers be honored.
It cautioned that failure to meet these demands within the stipulated period would force it to take further action as directed by its relevant organs.
Against this background, the minister’s October 12 letter turned down the call for an immediate review, which prompted Ajaero’s response the next day.
The NLC president argued that the 2019 law, signed on 18 April of that year, had envisaged a review by April 2024.
He said the 2024 amendment had not wiped out that original timetable, adding that a new wage should take effect by 17 April, 2027, under the timeline put forward by the union.
He said negotiations ought to begin at least six months before the relevant deadline, to allow time for preparatory steps and to prevent the accumulation of arrears. On that basis, the NLC said the process should begin by 17 October, 2026.
The union insisted that it was not asking the government to implement a new wage right away but to start the administrative and negotiation process needed to reach an agreement.
Dingyadi, however, said the National Minimum Wage Act, 2019, as amended by the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, 2024, provided for a review every three years.
