Minimum wage row: NLC wants talks now, FG says review is due in June 2027

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says negotiations on a new national minimum wage should legally begin by Saturday, 17 October 2026. The Federal Government says the ₦70,000 wage is not due for review until 1 June 2027 and that starting now would be premature.

The two sides set out their positions in letters this week. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, wrote to the NLC on Monday, 12 October, and the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, replied on Tuesday, 13 October. The letters were made public on Thursday.

Why does it matter to you?

The national minimum wage is the lowest monthly pay an employer covered by the law may pay a worker. A review would set a new floor for millions of workers in government and the private sector.

The row also comes in the middle of a two-week ultimatum the NLC gave the government after a joint meeting of its National Executive Council and Central Working Committee in Abuja on Thursday, 8 October. The ultimatum, which began on Friday, 9 October, demands lower petrol prices and the start of wage talks before the end of October. If the government does not act, the NLC said in its communiqué, it “will be compelled to take remedial steps as would be directed by the relevant organs”. It has not announced a strike.

What does the government say?

In his letter of 12 October, Dingyadi said the National Minimum Wage Act, 2019, as amended in 2024, provides for a review every three years, so the current wage falls due for review on 1 June 2027. Starting a new negotiation now “would be premature, inconsistent with the law, and disruptive”, he wrote.

He noted that President Bola Tinubu signed the ₦70,000 wage into law on 29 July 2024, a rise of more than 133% from ₦30,000, and pointed to the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, food security programmes and social support schemes as help for workers. He said the government would convene the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Committee “at appropriate time, in line with Section 3(4) of the Act”, and that his office remained open to dialogue.

What does the NLC say?

Ajaero’s reply rejected that timeline. “The government is not being asked to implement a new wage today, but to commence the process of negotiation,” he wrote.

Citing the original 2019 Act, the NLC says negotiations should start at least six months before the current arrangement expires, and that the first steps (calling for nominations, inaugurating the tripartite committee and agreeing its agenda) take time. “Statutorily, negotiations should commence by October 17, 2026,” the congress said.

It also repeated its other demands: petrol prices back to their level when the current wage was signed in 2024, the tax relief measures agreed in 2023, immediate wage awards, and the settlement agreed with health workers’ unions (JOHESU) in February 2026. “A wage increase that is immediately swallowed by hyperinflation is not a wage increase; it is a statistical illusion,” the letter said.

What is ₦70,000 worth now?

A GistMatrix calculation using petrol prices shows why labour is pressing. In July 2024, the month the wage was signed, petrol cost an average of ₦770.54 a litre, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), so ₦70,000 bought about 91 litres.

On Thursday, 8 October 2026, the Finance Minister, Taiwo Oyedele, put the current average pump price at about ₦1,400 a litre. At that price the same wage buys about 50 litres, roughly 45% less. The government has promised a discount at NNPC stations and a ₦1,350 ceiling on the landing cost of petrol.

Price rises are slowing: headline inflation fell to 14.63% in September from 15.39% in August, the NBS said on Thursday, 15 October. But that means prices are still rising, only more slowly.

Why do the two sides disagree on the date?

The government counts three years from the current wage, which it says falls due for review on 1 June 2027. The NLC counts from the original Act, signed on 18 April 2019, under which it says the previous review fell due by 18 April 2024. It argues that the preparatory work must start now so that a new wage is ready on time.

What happens next

• The ultimatum: two weeks from Friday, 9 October, runs to about Friday, 23 October, by GistMatrix’s count.
• The government: watch for whether it calls labour to talks or names a date to inaugurate the tripartite committee.
• Labour: any industrial action would have to be directed by the NLC’s organs, such as its National Executive Council. None has been announced.

Are you earning the minimum wage, or paying it? Tell GistMatrix how your pay has held up since 2024.