New Minimum Wage: FG, NLC Clash Over Timeline For Fresh Negotiations

The Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) are at odds over when to begin a fresh review of the N70,000 national minimum wage.

 

NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in a letter dated October 13, 2026, to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Muhammad Dingyadi, rejected the government’s position that it is too early to start new wage talks. He cited the National Minimum Wage Act, 2019, as the legal basis for the union’s demand.

 

Ajaero called on the government to commence preparations by inviting nominations and constituting the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Committee comprising government, organised labour and employers.

 

His letter came a day after Dingyadi, in a letter dated October 12, responded to a communique from a joint session of the NLC Central Working Committee and National Executive Council. The minister argued that the current minimum wage would only be due for review on June 1, 2027, warning that starting a new negotiation barely two years after the N70,000 wage was signed into law in July 2024 would disrupt industrial relations.

 

The dispute comes amid rising cost of living pressures. On October 1, 2026, the NLC in its Independence Day statement demanded an immediate cut in petrol prices, a nationwide wage award and the commencement of minimum wage negotiations.

 

With both sides trading letters and holding divergent positions, it remains unclear when formal negotiations will begin.

 

The NLC had earlier insisted that preparations for a new wage review must start now, while the Federal Government maintains that talks should begin in June 2027.