Nigerian workers have confirmed that the Federal Government has begun disbursing the new minimum wage.
This was announced by Benson Upah, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and Tommy Etim, Deputy President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), in separate statements on Thursday.
Upah praised the government’s move, urging other organizations to follow suit. “Yes, I think so. We ask other entities to emulate this example,” he said.
Echoing this, Etim emphasized that there should be no delays from any sector, as the Federal Government has already provided the necessary template for consequential adjustments.
“The FG’s committee on consequential adjustments already released a template, so no one has any moral ground to delay the payment of the minimum wage. We now advise that all other parties follow suit and commence payment of the new minimum wage,” Etim stated.
A civil servant from the Office of the Head of Civil Service, who spoke anonymously, confirmed that he had received the new wage for September. “I got an alert around 2 pm on Thursday. I am hoping the arrears will come too,” the worker disclosed.
Federal workers have reported an additional N40,000 in their salaries as part of the consequential adjustment, which means that over 1.2 million federal employees have begun receiving payments under the new wage system.
On Tuesday, Ekpo Nta, Chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, confirmed the approval of the upward review of the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS), in line with the 2024 Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act.
This follows President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval of the N70,000 minimum wage on July 18, 2024, with the Senate passing the wage bill into law shortly afterward.
The N70,000 wage represents a 100% increase from the N30,000 minimum wage implemented under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, the wage increase comes at a time when prices of goods and services have skyrocketed, with August 2024’s headline inflation hitting 32.15% and food inflation standing at 37.52%.
