On Tuesday, the Senate swiftly passed the National Minimum Wage Act 2019 (Amendment Bill). The bill, which was transmitted by President Bola Tinubu, sailed through its second and third readings within minutes and was promptly approved by the upper chamber.
Following a unanimous vote after a clause-by-clause consideration in the Committee of the Whole, the National Minimum Wage Bill successfully passed its third reading. Earlier that day, President Tinubu had sent the National Minimum Wage Bill to the National Assembly for consideration and speedy passage.
In his separate communications to the Senate and the House of Representatives, the President requested expedited consideration of a bill to amend the National Minimum Wage Act of 2019, aiming to increase the National Minimum Wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000. He also asked lawmakers to shorten the interval for periodic reviews of the national minimum wage from five years to three years.
Last Thursday, an agreement was reached between President Tinubu and the leadership of the Organised Labour, setting the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers at ₦70,000. This truce followed several discussions between labour leaders and the President, after months of stalled negotiations between labour unions and a tripartite committee on minimum wage established by the President in January.
The committee, which included representatives from state and federal governments as well as the Organised Private Sector, had proposed ₦62,000, while labour initially demanded ₦250,000. Labour argued that the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 was untenable due to inflation and the high cost of living exacerbated by the removal of the petrol subsidy.
Despite their initial stance, Labour accepted the President’s offer of ₦70,000. Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), stated that Labour agreed to the ₦70,000 wage and rejected a proposal from President Tinubu to set the minimum wage at ₦250,000 on the condition of increased petrol prices. He noted that the acceptance of ₦70,000 was also influenced by the new agreement to review the minimum wage every three years instead of every five.
The submission of the wage bill followed President Tinubu's announcement in his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2024, where he promised to send an executive bill on the new national minimum wage to the National Assembly for passage.
