The Nigerian Senate has approved a bill to increase the national minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000, effectively enacting it into law. Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the approval following the third reading of the bill during a plenary session in Abuja on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.
This legislation, proposed by President Bola Tinubu after consultations with organized labor leaders last week, also includes a provision to shorten the minimum wage review period from five years to three years.
Akpabio outlined the bill’s objectives during the plenary session before calling for its approval. He stated, “Distinguished colleagues, a bill to amend the National Minimum Wage Act 2019 and to increase the national minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000 and review the time for periodic review of the national minimum wage from five years to three years and for related matters 2024. Distinguished colleagues, the third reading has been taken and passed.”
The bill quickly progressed through the second and third readings in both legislative chambers of the National Assembly, receiving immediate passage. The Senate’s approval followed a unanimous vote after a clause-by-clause consideration in the Committee of the Whole. Similarly, the House of Representatives passed the bill promptly.
President Tinubu is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming days.
Previously, President Tinubu submitted the National Minimum Wage Bill to the National Assembly for deliberation and approval. In communications to both the Senate and the House of Representatives, he emphasized the urgency of amending the National Minimum Wage Act of 2019 to raise the minimum wage to N70,000 and reduce the review period to three years.
According to Nairametrics, an agreement was reached between Tinubu and leaders of organized labor, setting N70,000 as the new minimum wage. Initially, the federal government proposed N62,000, while labor demanded N250,000, leading to a stalemate.
The agreement was reached following extensive negotiations between labor leaders and the President after months of unsuccessful discussions between labor organizations and a tripartite committee on the minimum wage, constituted by the President in January. The committee, which included representatives from state and federal governments as well as the organized private sector, had initially proposed N62,000, but labor maintained a demand for N250,000, deeming N30,000 unsustainable due to inflation and the high cost of living exacerbated by the removal of the petrol subsidy by the President.
