Minimum Wage: Nigerian Civil Servants Confirm Receiving FG's New Payment

The Federal Government of Nigeria has commenced the disbursement of the new minimum wage, which was recently increased to 70,000 Nigerian naira (NGN) per month.

This increase, which equates to approximately 44 U.S. dollars, was passed into law on July 23, 2024, following extensive negotiations between President Bola Tinubu and organized labor unions.

The confirmation of the payment was made by Benson Upah, spokesperson of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and Tommy Etim, Deputy President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), in separate statements on Thursday. Upah stated, "Yes, I think so. We ask other entities to emulate this example," while Etim added, "FG’s committee on consequential adjustments already released a template, so, no one has any moral ground to delay the payment of the minimum wage. We now advise that all other parties follow suit and commence the payment of the new minimum wage."

The new wage policy marks a substantial increase from the previous minimum wage of 30,000 NGN, which had been in place for the past five years. Despite the increase, the new wage is still massively lower than the nearly 500,000 NGN demanded by the unions.

The acceptance of the 70,000 NGN figure came with "mixed feelings" due to the ongoing economic challenges in the country, as noted by Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigerian Labour Congress.

The implementation of the new wage began in September 2024, with the Director of Press at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, confirming that payments would start this month. He mentioned, "The new minimum wage payment will begin from today (Thursday) for this month. You can ask civil servants when they start getting alerts. You can confirm that."

The new wage bill is expected to cost the government approximately N4.019 trillion annually, covering over 1.2 million workers across various sectors, including Ministries, Departments, Agencies, Armed Forces, Paramilitary, Federal Universities, Polytechnics, and Colleges of Education. The effective date for the implementation of the new wage was set for July 29, 2024, following President Tinubu's signing of the bill into law.

Despite the positive reception from labor unions, concerns have been raised by business associations regarding the feasibility of the new wage for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Dr. Femi Egbesola, National President of the Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria, expressed that while they support fair wages, many SMEs may struggle to meet the new minimum wage due to current economic realities. He warned, "This may force SMEs to reduce staff strength while some may eventually close business."