BY EDMOND ODOK – As relentless inflation continues to shrink the purchasing power of the average Nigerian household, the Federal Government has officially signaled its readiness to reopen wage negotiations with organized labour to establish a more sustainable living wage in the country.
This is as the government also admitted that the current N70,000 benchmark as national minimum wage no longer reflects prevailing economic realities and must therefore be reviewed upwards.
Coming less than two years after President Bola Tinubu signed the new minimum wage into law, raising it from N30,000 and shortening the review cycle from five years to three years, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the administration recognises that the cost of living continues to rise and that workers deserve wages that keep pace with economic conditions.
Gbajabiamila, who stated this on Thursday at the Good Governance Summit 2026 organised by Working People United (WoPU) in Abuja, hinted on the administration’s plans to work collaboratively with the organised Labour in honestly reviewing the N70,000 minimum wage benchmark to guarantee it meets the practical needs and living standards of the average Nigerian worker
According to Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, the Presidency intends to approach the upcoming negotiations as a “partner, not an adversary” to Organized Labour, adding that: “This administration has delivered a new national minimum wage. In July 2024 President Bola Tinubu signed into law a minimum wage of N70,000 Naira, with more than double the N30,000 Naira that workers had endured for years and recognising that the cost of living does not stand still, the President reduced the strategic review cycle from five years to three years, so that wages may keep closer pace with economic reality.
“The N70,000 wage, which was a milestone in 2024 must be honestly reassessed against today’s realities, and I can confirm to you that when the time comes to begin the process of reviewing the national minimum wage, this administration will approach that endeavour not as an adversary of Labour, but as a partner’:
He also urged organised Labour to sustain dialogue with government, stressing that cooperation rather than confrontation would deliver better outcomes for workers and the economy.
In his remarks, Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, said the impact of government policies on workers remains the true measure of governance, stressing that policies must go beyond official documents and translate into improved living standards, productivity, social protection and economic opportunities for citizens.
Dingyadi said, “Governance is not merely about policies written in documents or programmes announced from government offices, the true measure of governance is the extent to which policies translate into improved livelihoods, decent work, increased productivity, social protection, economic opportunities, and dignity for the working people.”
Also speaking at the event, National Coordinator of Working People United (WoPU), Comrade Williams Akporeha, said the Nigerian workforce remains the unyielding engine of the nation’s economy and its most valuable developmental asset.
He emphasized that “There’s no economy without the working people, there’s no productivity without the working people, and there’s no national development”, even as he also described the gathering as a vital, cross-sector convergence of the nation’s productive forces, uniting everyday citizens under a shared vision to accelerate economic growth and elevate the living standards of Nigerians.
