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Minimum wage: No agreement reached with FG – NLC
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s claims that an agreement has been reached on a new national minimum wage, insisting that its demand for a new national minimum wage remains N250,000.
Speaking on Wednesday during his nationwide broadcast to mark Democracy Day, Tinubu said a consensus had been reached on the long-debated new minimum wage between the federal government and the organised labour.
The president revealed that an executive bill would soon be sent to the National Assembly to formalise the new minimum wage agreement.
He said, “In this spirit, we have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with organised labour on a new national minimum wage.
“We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less.”
But in a statement yesterday, the acting President of NLC, Prince Adewale Adeyanju, said there was no agreement reached by the Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage at the time negotiations ended on Friday, June 7, 2024.
He said, “Our demand still remains N250,000 only, and we have not been given any compelling reasons to change this position which we consider a great concession by Nigerian workers during the tripartite negotiation process.”
NLC said it had to raise the point for President Tinubu, Nigerians and stakeholders to be aware because it appeared that those who briefed him on the outcome of the tripartite negotiation did not tell him the true situation.
The statement reads in part: “We reiterate that it will be extremely difficult for Nigerian workers to accept any national minimum wage figure that approximates to a starvation wage. We cannot be working and yet remain in abject poverty.
“While the president may have accurately recounted parts of our democratic journey’s history, it is evident that he has been misinformed regarding the outcome of the wage negotiation process.
“The NLC would have expected that the advisers of the president would have told him that we neither reached any agreement with the federal government and the employers on the base figure for a national minimum wage nor on its other components.
“We are, therefore, surprised at the submission of Mr President over a supposed agreement. We believe that he may have been misled into believing that there was an agreement with the NLC and TUC. There was none, and we must let the president, Nigerians and other national stakeholders understand this immediately to avoid a mix-up in the ongoing conversation around the national minimum wage. We have also not seen a copy of the document submitted to him and will not accept any doctored document.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the federal government would not accept a minimum wage that would lead to mass retrenchment of workers, undermine the economy and jeopardise the welfare of about 200 million Nigerians.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja at the opening of the 2024 Synod of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, the minister said the government was not against an increase of wages for Nigerian workers, but that, “We keep on advocating for a realistic and sustainable wage system for the workers.
“We want the labour unions to understand that the relief that Nigerians are expecting, and that they fully deserve, will not come only in the form of an increase in wages. It will also come as efforts to reduce the cost of living and to ensure that more money stays in the pockets of Nigerians.
“And this is where programmes like the Presidential CNG Initiative come in. That programme alone, by replacing or complementing petrol usage with CNG, will cut transportation costs by as much as 50 per cent.”
Members of the Enugu State Caucus of Peoples Democratic Party, ( PDP) in the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Nnolim Nnaji , Rt. Hon. Martins Oke and Hon Anayo Onwuegbu have welcomed Rt. Hon. Dennis Agbo and Hon. Chidi Mark Obeta of Labour Party, (LP) to the PDP fold.
They observed that the visionary leadership of Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mba in Enugu State has ignited massive decamps and unprecedented upsurge of membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) in the state.
The caucus in a statement issued after the two members of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Dennis Agbo of Igboeze North/ Udenu and Chidi Mark Obeta who represents Nsukka/Igboeze South formally announced their transfer of membership to PDP at the resumption of House plenary on Tuesday said it was gladdening to receive them into the PDP fold.
They stressed that PDP in Enugu State was witnessing a great rebirth as a result of the transformative development agenda being unleashed in various sectors of the economy of the state by Governor Mba which has received global commendations.
The Enugu State caucus Leader, Rt. Hon. Nnolim Nnaji on behalf of the members further noted that Governor Mba’s investments in infrastructure, agro economy, and security among others have made Enugu State a tourist’s haven adding that with the good governance structure he has put in place, his second tenure would be a walkover.
Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Emomotimi Guwor, along with twenty-one other former members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), elected into the Assembly has officially defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), following a major realignment of political stakeholders across the state.
The defection of the twenty-two lawmakers has effectively transformed the Delta State House of Assembly into a one-party legislature, as the remaining seven members were originally elected on the ticket of the APC.
Announcing the development on Tuesday during the resumption of plenary after the Easter break, the Speaker stated that the decision was the result of extensive consultations with their constituents and political leaders throughout the state.
He emphasized that the move aligned with Section 109 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
While expressing appreciation to members for their contributions so far, Guwor urged the House to ensure the completion of all pending bills as the second legislative session nears its end.
He noted that the political shift towards the APC was in response to the realignment of stakeholders and the desire to align with the Federal Government under President Bola Tinubu’s leadership.
“The mass defection of members of the Peoples Democratic Party, led by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, to the All Progressives Congress was made in the overall interest of Deltans and the state,” the Speaker said.
He explained that the decision followed extensive consultations held on April 23 and which cumulated on the official reception on April 28, 2025, at the Government House and the Cenotaph, respectively.
He said: “We are fully committed to partnering with the Federal Government to deliver greater development to Deltans.
“On behalf of the House, I commend the courage and visionary leadership of our Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, in making this strategic and timely decision.
“As a legislative body, we stand with His Excellency in this endeavour. This renewed partnership between the state and Federal Government must be supported and allowed to flourish, so that we can begin to enjoy its benefits in the shortest possible time.”
He informed the House that he had received twenty-two letters (including his own) notifying of the change of party affiliation from the PDP to the APC.
The defection, he said, was driven by instability within the PDP’s national leadership and factional divisions within the South-South Zonal Executive Committee, leading to internal conflicts and disunity within the party.
Citing Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Speaker affirmed the constitutional basis for the defection.
“With this action, the Delta State House of Assembly is now composed entirely of members from the All Progressives Congress. We thank our constituents for endorsing this progressive course of action”.
A motion to adopt the letters of party change was moved by the Majority Leader, Hon. Emeka Nwaobi, and seconded by Hon. Ferguson Onwo, who represents Isoko South II.
Speaking to journalists after the plenary, the Majority Leader, Hon Emeka Nwaobi reiterated that the defection was prompted by the crisis within the PDP.
“Our decision was based on the instability at the national level and the factionalization at the South-South level. Consequently, we chose to move to the ruling All Progressives Congress, in accordance with Section 109 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended,” he said.
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