NLC Rejects Federal Govt’s Wage Review Timeline, Insists On Immediate Talks

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rejected the federal government’s position that negotiations for a new national minimum wage should wait until 2027.

The labour centre insisted that the government must begin the administrative process now rather than wait until the current N70,000 minimum wage arrangement approaches its expiration.

The NLC further accused the government of misinterpreting the National Minimum Wage Act, arguing that commencing negotiations is different from implementing a new wage.

In a letter signed by its president, Comrade Joe Ajaero and addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, the NLC said negotiations should commence in October 2026, ahead of the government’s proposed timeline.

The latest dispute followed the minister’s 12 October response, in which the federal government maintained that the current minimum wage, signed into law by President Bola Tinubu in July 2024, was due for review on 1 June 2027.

LEADERSHIP reported that the NLC had issued a two-week ultimatum to the federal government on 9 October 2026, demanding a reduction in petrol prices to 2024 levels, the commencement of minimum wage negotiations before the end of October, immediate tax relief, and the payment of wage awards.

It also demanded the implementation of the 5 February 2026 agreement with JOHESU and the resolution of the JPSNC’s outstanding demands.

Dingyadi had argued that starting another review barely two years into the implementation of the current wage would be premature, inconsistent with the law and potentially disruptive to industrial relations.

“By the extant legal framework, the life span of the current National Minimum Wage will expire and become due for review on 1 June 2027.

Commencing a fresh review exercise barely two years into the implementation of the current wage, which represented over a 133% increase from the previous N30,000, would be premature, inconsistent with the law and disruptive to the orderly industrial relations system envisaged by the Act”, the minister said in the letter.

But the NLC rejected that reasoning, insisting that waiting until the government’s preferred timeline could delay the negotiation process and expose workers to prolonged financial hardship amid rising living costs.

“The government is not being asked to implement a new wage today, but to commence the process of negotiation,” Ajaero said in the letter.

The congress explained that preliminary steps, including inviting nominations from stakeholders, inaugurating the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Committee and setting the agenda for negotiations, should begin well before the expiration of the existing wage arrangement.

It argued that the original National Minimum Wage Act, signed on 18 April 2019, established a statutory framework that should guide preparations for the next wage review.

According to the labour centre, negotiations should commence at least six months before the existing arrangement expires.

“Your letter states that the ministry is “engaging relevant MDAs” and will convene the Tripartite Committee “at the appropriate time.” The time is now. The appropriate time is now. Procrastination is no longer a policy choice; it is a direct injury to the survival of the Nigerian worker.

The federal government’s response, while prompt, is clearly out of touch with the existential reality of the Nigerian worker.

We are suffering more than ever before, and we need urgent, direct and significant intervention, which the government is capable of doing if it summons the necessary will”, Ajaero said.