Nigeria’s labour unions are already calling for a new minimum wage review — and the current N70,000 floor hasn’t even been in place for two years.
At the 2026 Workers’ Day rally in Abuja on Friday, NLC President Joe Ajaero and TUC President Festus Osifo announced that formal renegotiation would begin by July 2026. The argument: inflation, fuel prices, and the general cost of living have eroded whatever gains the N70,000 wage offered when President Tinubu signed it into law in July 2024.
“As part of this resolve, we announce that the process for renegotiating the National Minimum Wage, which expires early next year, will commence by July 2026, to avoid the painful delays of the past,” the two leaders said in a joint address before thousands of workers at Eagle Square.
The speech was blunt about the economy. Official GDP growth of around 3.6 per cent, the unions said, has not translated into better lives for workers. “We are told that GDP growth may reach about 3.6 per cent, driven largely by the service sector, yet the poverty rate continues to rise to about 65 per cent of the population,” the statement read. “It is not getting better. It is getting worse.”
Beyond the wage review, the unions are also demanding that workers receive 100 per cent of their basic salaries while talks are ongoing — a pushback against states and agencies that have been stalling or underpaying.
Sources: Punch, Daily Nigerian, The Journal Nigeria, Pulse
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