The new minimum wage set by the Federal Government has been confirmed for Nigerian workers.
Benson Upah, the Nigeria Labour Congress spokesperson, and Tommy Etim, the Deputy President of the Trade Union Congress, revealed this information in separate statements on Thursday.
Upah and Etim’s remarks coincide with a news exclusive that the Federal Government started paying the N70,000 minimum wage on Thursday.
Upah urged businesses nationwide to follow the Federal Government’s lead in response to the new minimum wage payment schedule.
“Yes, I think so. We ask other entities to emulate this example”, he said.
In a similar vein, Etim of the TUC stated, “FG’s committee on consequential adjustments previously produced a template, therefore there is no moral justification for anyone to delay the minimum wage’s payment. We now suggest that everyone else do the same and start paying the new minimum wage.
Additionally, a government worker who works in the Head of government Service’s office but is not permitted to talk acknowledged that he has been paid the new minimum wage for September 2024.
“I got an alert around 2 pm on Thursday. I am hoping the arrears will come too”, he told newmen.
A few federal employees attested to receiving an extra N40,000 on top of their prior pay as a result of the modification.
This implied that more than 1.2 million workers covered by federal payments have started to get paid the new minimum wage.
In accordance with the Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act of 2024, the government has approved the upward revision of the consolidated public service salary structure, or CONPSS, as verified by Ekpo Nta, the chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, on Tuesday.
This came after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved a new minimum salary of N70,000 on July 18, 2024.
The Senate passed the revised minimum wage bill into law after Tinubu gave his support.
The N70,000 minimum wage was a 100 percent pay rise from the N30,000 paid under President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.
Meanwhile, the payment rise implementation for Nigerian workers came at the same time prices of goods and services had hit the rooftops as Headline and Food Inflation stood at 32.15 and 37.52 percent in August 2024.
