New Minimum Wage for Nigerian Workers to Start from April 2024

The Nigerian government has announced a new minimum wage for its workers, which will take effect from April 1, 2024. This was disclosed by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed, in an interview with PUNCH.

The new wage will replace the current one of N30,000, which will expire by the end of March 2024. The government has budgeted N24.66 trillion for salaries in the next three years.

The new wage is a result of the negotiations between the government and the labour unions, which started after the removal of the fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu in May 2023. The subsidy removal led to a temporary payment of N35,000 to each worker as a palliative measure.

However, the labour unions demanded a formal wage review in 2024, as stipulated by the Nigerian labour law, which requires a minimum wage review every five years.

The National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, stressed the legal obligation for a wage review in 2024. He said, “The new minimum wage is to come into effect next year.”

Minister Mohammed also explained that the new wage will reflect a proper salary structure for workers across the country. He said, “Certainly, there is a new wage regime that will come in on April 1, 2024. That is why these palliatives were targeted so they would cushion economic hardship before then. In our negotiation with Labour, we said that the wage issue was not something one could just fix. A committee that will also involve Labour itself will work on it.”

He added that the committee is being set up and that the government is in talks with the labour unions. He said, “The committee is being constituted and we are talking to Labour about it. And by the time this current wage regime expires by the end of March, we will expect that a new wage will begin by April. It is in this wage regime that we will now have a proper salary structure for workers across the length and breadth of Nigeria. We expect that the private sector and state governors will also do the same.”

A top official of the NLC confirmed that the organised labour had initiated talks with the government. He said, “By April 1, 2024, the current minimum wage will expire. We have all agreed to set up a national wage negotiation committee, and that the committee should comprise all parties.”

The new minimum wage is expected to improve the living standards of Nigerian workers and boost the economy.

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