The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has said the N70,000 national minimum wage is no longer sustainable under Nigeria’s worsening economic realities.
The demand came after several states reviewed their wage structures upwards. President Bola Tinubu had signed the National Minimum Wage Bill into law in July 2024, raising it from N30,000 to N70,000.
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But with inflation eroding workers’ earnings, some states have moved higher. On August 27, 2025, Imo Governor, Hope Uzodinma, announced a wage increase to N104,000.
Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa, Enugu, Niger, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Delta, Benue, Osun, and Ondo had earlier raised theirs between N73,000 and N100,000.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja on Sunday, Acting General Secretary of the NLC, Benson Upah, stressed that the current wage could no longer sustain families.
He said, “The truth is that N70,000 is not sustainable under the present economic situation. Workers are under immense pressure, and unless the government responds quickly, the crisis of survival will only worsen.”
Upah added that inflation has wiped out the value of the 2024 wage law, noting that, “The cost of food, transportation, housing and basic services has gone beyond what an average worker can afford. People are struggling daily just to put food on the table.”
He further explained that the NLC has engaged government repeatedly on the issue.
“We have since engaged the Federal Government at different times and fora. Our position remains clear: a living wage, not a poverty wage, is what Nigerian workers deserve.”
Labour unions are now pressing for urgent negotiations to cushion workers against the harsh economic climate.
