ABUJA, Nigeria: The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress announced on Monday, June 15, 2026, that they will restart negotiations with the Federal Government of Nigeria for a new national minimum wage.
Okay News reports that the unions issued a joint address at the 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva, demanding a living wage and rejecting any proposals to tax the income of low-wage earners.
Nigeria’s current minimum wage is N70,000 ($47 USD), which President Bola Tinubu signed into law on 18 July 2024 and implemented on 29 July 2024. In January 2025, the government reduced the wage review cycle from five years to two years, establishing 2026 as the next renegotiation period.
“The current Act expires early next year, and we have announced that renegotiation will commence by July 2026 to avoid the painful delays of the past. As soon as we leave here, we shall write again to the government demanding the commencement of the process for renegotiating the national minimum wage,” the unions said.
“We demand nothing less than a genuine living wage that reflects today’s harsh economic realities. We also demand immediate relief measures by governments at all levels until a new minimum wage is signed into law. We reject outright any attempt to tax the minimum wage or impose further burdens on the poor,” the unions said.
The labour leaders presented data indicating that 65 per cent of the country’s population, representing roughly 150 million people, currently live in multidimensional poverty. The unions also reported that nearly 2,000 individuals were killed during the first quarter of the year due to regional insecurity.
