NASS speedily passes ₦70,000 minimum wage bill

The bill, which quickly passed its second and third readings in both chambers of the National Assembly shortly after being transmitted by President Bola Tinubu, was approved by the Senate and House separately.

Following a unanimous vote during a clause-by-clause consideration in the Committee of the Whole, the National Minimum Wage Bill successfully passed its third reading in the Senate.

The House followed suit with an immediate approval of the bill.

President Tinubu is expected to sign the legislation into law.

Earlier, the President sent the National Minimum Wage Bill to the National Assembly for their consideration and passage.

He requested that both chambers, separately, expedite the process of amending the National Minimum Wage Act of 2019 to increase the national minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000.

Additionally, the President sought to reduce the periodic review period for the national minimum wage from five years to three years and related issues.

Last Thursday, Tinubu and the leadership of Organised Labour reached an agreement on ₦70,000 as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

This agreement followed extensive discussions between the President and labour leaders over the past few weeks, following months of unsuccessful negotiations between labour organizations and a tripartite committee established by the President in January to address minimum wage concerns.

The committee, which included representatives from the state and federal governments, as well as the Organised Private Sector, had proposed a new minimum wage of ₦62,000, while labour demanded ₦250,000 for workers currently earning ₦30,000.

Labour argued that the ₦30,000 minimum wage was untenable given the economic challenges, including inflation and the rising cost of living after the President’s removal of the petrol subsidy.

Despite previously insisting on ₦250,000, Labour ultimately accepted the President’s offer of ₦70,000 last Thursday.

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, stated that Labour accepted the ₦70,000 minimum wage while rejecting a proposal from President Bola Tinubu that conditioned the ₦250,000 minimum wage on an increase in petrol prices.

He noted that Labour agreed to ₦70,000 partly because the review of the minimum wage will now occur every three years instead of five.

The delivery of the wage bill is coming about six weeks after President Tinubu announced in his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2024, that he would send an executive bill for a new national minimum wage to the National Assembly.