Bill to regulate informal sector employment passes second reading amid heated debate

By Haruna Salami

A Bill for an Act to regulate and formalize employment in Nigeria’s informal sector, passed second reading in Senate Wednesday amid heated debate over the role of private labour agencies and the regulatory responsibilities of the Federal Ministry of Labour.

Titled “A Bill for an Act to Regulate and Formalize the Employment of Domestic Workers, Apprentices, Interns, and Other Informal Sector Employees; to Empower the National Directorate of Employment to Issue Licenses and Monitor Privately Owned Employment Agencies in Nigeria”, it aims to address growing concerns over unregulated employment practices, worker exploitation, and the need for labour modernization.

Sponsor of the bill Senator Sani Musa (Nigeri East), leading the debate, strongly opposed the idea of outsourcing core employment responsibilities to private agencies, warning it could open the door to systemic abuse of workers.

“This job cannot be assigned to an external agency. The responsibility already lies with the Federal Ministry of Labour. Allowing states or cities to enact contradicting laws could create multiple centers of fraud and abuse against Nigerian workers”, he said.

In response to a query from the Senate President about the potential implications of the bill, Sani affirmed that some private employers were already violating minimum wage laws. “We have evidence of private security staff earning as little as ₦40,000, while appearing to be federal employees. If we further open the domestic employment space without proper safeguards, we risk worsening an already dire situation.”

He also noted that the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) was never intended to function as a hiring agency. “NDE’s mandate is to provide skills training and empower self-employment—not to act as a recruitment arm for private employers,” he said.

Other senators, however, called for a more open approach to the bill, urging that it be allowed to progress to the committee stage where expert opinions could be incorporated.

Senator Abdulfatai Buhari (Oyo North) emphasised the need for Nigeria’s labour laws to evolve. “We’ve made bold economic reforms under President Tinubu-removing fuel subsidies, unifying interest rates. Reforming our outdated labour structure should follow. We cannot remain stuck in the past.”

Senator Osita Izunaso, a member of the Senate Committee on Labour and Productivity, confirmed that similar legislation had previously been debated and could be consolidated. “We’ve worked on a bill focusing on domestic workers. If amendments to the NDE Act are needed, we can make those recommendations at the committee level.”

Following the debate, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, called for a voice vote, which received overwhelming “aye”.

Therefore, he referred it to the Senate Committee on Employment, Labour, and Productivity to report back in six weeks.