Nigerian Presidency Criticizes ₦497,000 Minimum Wage Proposal, Calls Organized Labour Unserious

Nigerian Presidency Criticizes ₦497,000 Minimum Wage Proposal, Calls Organized Labour Unserious
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The Presidency has described the organized labour’s demand for a ₦497,000 minimum wage as unrealistic and unserious.

Recall that organized labour initially demanded a minimum wage of ₦615,000, later reducing it to ₦500,000 and then ₦497,000, while the government and private sector increased their offer to ₦57,000 in the last Tripartite meeting.

In an interview with Vanguard, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, stated that both the federal and state governments have bloated workforces, making the labour’s demand outrageous.

Onanuga emphasized that the determination of a new minimum wage should focus on the availability of resources to meet the agreed amount. He argued that spending on recurrent expenditures is already high, and it would be challenging for governments at all levels to allocate all their resources to worker salaries.

He said, “The demand is outrageous. If you ask Mr. Ajaero or our brother who is the President of the TUC, Osifo, how much they pay their drivers or their lowest-paid workers, can they pay them ₦500,000 or ₦615,000? It’s unrealistic.”

Onanuga noted that the government maintains a large civil service as a social service due to a lack of other employment opportunities, and current productivity levels do not justify the demanded wage increases. He also pointed out that some states still struggle to pay the current ₦30,000 minimum wage, suggesting they would also fail to meet any new wage demands.

He proposed that labour should focus on reducing living costs through affordable housing, lower transport costs, and cheaper food, arguing that this would improve the real earning power of workers more effectively than a simple wage increase.

“In my view, labour should focus on making affordable housing, reducing transport costs, and making food cheaper and more accessible. Simply increasing wages will not solve the problem,” Onanuga concluded.