ABUJA – In a swift legislative move, the National Assembly passed the National Minimum Wage Bill, which was transmitted by President Bola Tinubu. The bill, which proposes increasing the national minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000, successfully scaled second and third readings in both the Senate and the House of Representatives shortly after its submission.
The Senate passed the bill in a unanimous vote following a clause-by-clause consideration in the Committee of the Whole. The House of Representatives followed suit, passing the bill immediately.
President Tinubu is expected to sign the bill into law, cementing the new wage structure.
Earlier, the President had requested the National Assembly to expedite consideration of the bill, which also includes provisions to reduce the interval for periodic minimum wage reviews from five years to three years.
The new minimum wage agreement of ₦70,000 was reached last Thursday between the government and the leadership of the Organized Labour after weeks of negotiations. The labour leaders had initially demanded ₦250,000, citing the economic challenges and high cost of living exacerbated by the removal of the petrol subsidy.
Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), explained that Labour agreed to the ₦70,000 offer, rejecting a proposal for ₦250,000 tied to increased petrol prices. Ajaero highlighted that the acceptance was also influenced by the new provision for wage reviews every three years, instead of five.
The President’s transmission of the wage bill comes approximately six weeks after his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2024, in which he announced plans to propose the new national minimum wage to the National Assembly.
