The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has denied negotiating the N40,000 consequential adjustment granted to federal authorities workers following the implementation of the 2024 nationwide minimal wage.
In a press launch dated November 8, 2026, and signed by its Acting General Secretary, Comrade Benson Upah, the NLC described claims attributing the N40,000 adjustment to its management as false and a distortion of Nigeria’s collective bargaining framework.
The labour union mentioned the duty for negotiating consequential changes rests with sector-specific unions and negotiating councils, not the NLC.
The union mentioned the clarification was obligatory to handle what it described as misinformation surrounding the 2024 minimal wage negotiations and the following consequential adjustment course of.
How consequential changes are negotiated
According to the NLC, the nationwide minimal wage is set by a tripartite negotiation involving organised labour, authorities and employers’ representatives.
It defined that its mandate at this stage is to barter the nationwide minimal wage, which serves as the essential wage flooring beneath which no employee ought to be paid.
However, as soon as a brand new minimal wage is agreed upon, negotiations on consequential changes are dealt with by the respective unions and negotiating our bodies throughout completely different sectors.
The labour congress maintained that though it represents workers throughout each the private and non-private sectors, it doesn’t negotiate consequential changes for particular person sectors.
- “Therefore, the claim that the NLC was responsible for negotiating the N40,000 across-the-board addition as consequential adjustment for federal workers is not only false but is a deliberate distortion of the collective bargaining framework in Nigeria,” the assertion mentioned.
In the general public sector, the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC), comprising authorities representatives and about eight commerce unions, negotiates with the Federal Government on implementation and consequential changes. Its state-level counterparts carry out comparable capabilities in negotiations with state governments.
For the non-public sector, industrial unions negotiate individually with employers’ associations primarily based on the construction and circumstances of their respective industries.
- The NLC cited the Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers (AFBTE) and the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees for instance of sector-specific collective bargaining.
- It additional said that the adjustment was negotiated by public-sector unions, including that “the N40,000 outcome was the sole responsibility of the leadership of the unions in the public sector.”
NLC prepares for new minimal wage negotiations
The clarification comes as Nigeria approaches one other spherical of nationwide minimal wage negotiations, which the NLC mentioned presents an vital alternative to safe improved earnings for workers.
The union warned that makes an attempt to shift duty for earlier consequential changes might create confusion and division inside the labour motion forward of the forthcoming negotiations.
It mentioned it will work to make sure that the end result of the brand new minimal wage train serves the pursuits of Nigerian workers and the broader inhabitants whereas approximating a residing wage.
Nigeria’s minimal wage panorama
The debate over the N40,000 consequential adjustment comes amid broader developments in Nigeria’s minimal wage implementation and renewed calls for for improved workers’ earnings.
Nairametrics earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu signed the N70,000 national minimum wage into law on July 29, 2024, elevating the earlier benchmark of N30,000 and lowering the minimal wage evaluation cycle from 5 years to 3 years.
In May 2026, Nairametrics revealed a evaluation of minimal wages throughout Nigerian states, displaying that a number of states had approved wages above the N70,000 federal benchmark, with Imo leading at N104,000. The evaluation additionally highlighted variations within the tempo and extent of implementation throughout states.
More just lately, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) rejected the Federal Government’s proposed N70,000 transportation allowance for six months, arguing that workers wanted everlasting wage will increase fairly than short-term reduction. The union additionally referred to as for a rise within the pay of the lowest-paid federal workers to N300,000.
