The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rejected the salary increase announced by the Bola Tinubu-led administration on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 insisting on N615,000 minimum wage.
Impact News reports that the federal government approved a pay rise of between 25 and 35 per cent for civil servants across various consolidated salary structures.
The announcement was made on the eve of May Day which is celebrated worldwide to recognise and honour the achievements and contributions of the working class.
The announcement came ahead of the submission of the report of the 37-member tripartite committee on national minimum wage, led by Bukar Goni Aji, a former Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HoCS), which was inaugurated in January this year.
A statement signed by the Head of Press, National Salaries, Incomes, and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Emmanuel Njoku, said the increases took effect from January 1, 2024.
But in contrary, the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, on Wednesday while addressing Nigerian workers at the May Day celebration at Eagle Square in Abuja revealed that the implementation of the new minimum wage will take effect from May 1, 2024.
However, the NLC assistant general secretary, Chris Onyeka, said the announcement was a mere waste of time.
Onyeka noted that the NSIWC does not have powers to fix national minimum wage.
“What they pretend to have done is a waste of time. It does not amount to anything for us and those in the federal civil service,” Onyeka declared.
The NLC is demanding a minimum wage of N615,000 for workers in the country.
