In a recent statement, Festus Osifo, President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), has brushed aside criticisms suggesting that efforts towards securing a new national minimum wage have stalled, as reported by DAILY POST.

In response to these concerns, Osifo stated that discussions are ongoing between the Federal Government and various stakeholders, including the Nigerian Governors Forum, Local Government Administrators, the Organised Private Sector, and Labour Unions.

Osifo confirmed the TUC’s stance on the demand for a minimum wage set at N250,000, a proposal originally put forward by the Presidential Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage.

He pointed out that negotiations, which began in January 2024, have progressed significantly since then, highlighting the comparative timeline with the previous minimum wage negotiations that culminated in the N30,000 wage implemented in 2019 after two years of deliberation.

Osifo acknowledged the subdued public presence of their efforts.

The TUC president expressed confidence that their collaborative efforts will lead to the timely submission of a bill that addresses the needs of Nigeria’s workforce, particularly its most economically disadvantaged members.

“Minimum wage negotiations cannot be dead, you know when we started this conversation you asked us that in 2017 if you remember we started the minimum wage that was signed in 2019, it took about two years to see the light of day. We promised you when we started in January that we will ensure this one is fast-tracked for us not to be in the conundrum that we were as at 2019 which took two years.”

“So that what will be submitted to the National Assembly will actually be a minimum wage that will cater for the poorest of the poor, so for the fact that in the media we are not shouting, we are doing some level of internal work so that this bill will be submitted in earnest soon. Of course, we still insist on the N250,000 benchmark as the ideal minimum wage,” he said.

Source: Dailypost