NLC Warns National Assembly: Don’t Tamper With Minimum Wage Law

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has issued a stern warning to the National Assembly over its alleged plan to remove labour matters — including the national minimum wage — from the exclusive legislative list and place them under the concurrent list.

NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, speaking during the Central Working Committee’s National Administrative Council (NAC) meeting in Abeokuta, Ogun State, described the move as “an exercise in futility.”

According to Ajaero, transferring labour to the concurrent list would mean that individual states could begin to fix their own minimum wages — a development he said would erode the rights of workers and violate international labour standards.

“The National Assembly should not go into this exercise in futility unless members will also allow their respective states to determine their wages,” he said.

He argued that minimum wage is universally treated as a national issue under International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, which recognise member nations as whole entities and not fragmented sub-national governments.

Ajaero didn’t stop there. He accused lawmakers of plotting to “bastardise” the national minimum wage framework by also proposing state-level industrial courts that would handle wage-related disputes — a move he said goes against ILO principles.

“If they attempt to smuggle labour matters into the concurrent list, we will mobilise workers to protest against it, even up to election day,” he warned.

In a media chat following the meeting, the labour leader reaffirmed NLC’s stance, stressing that any effort to weaken the national minimum wage structure would be met with fierce resistance.

“All over the world, there is a minimum wage for the protection of workers. In Nigeria, there is legislation for a minimum wage of ₦70,000. The law permits states to pay more than that, and in fact, many states currently pay above the minimum wage,” Ajaero explained.

He insisted that allowing states to set their own minimum wages would endanger the livelihood of workers, especially in states with poor labour policies or weak fiscal responsibility.

He also clarified that the NLC had not received reports of any state government refusing to pay the newly approved minimum wage, signalling that the policy was already gaining traction nationwide.

On the issue of local government autonomy, Ajaero called for a return to the Supreme Court for further clarification on its ruling, to ensure that the constitutional provisions on local government governance are fully implemented.