NLC threatens showdown over N70,000 minimum wage default

The Nigeria Labour Congress has warned state governments and other employers of labour, threatening decisive action against those who fail to implement the N70,000 national minimum wage and the corresponding salary adjustments by the end of the first quarter of 2025.

The warning was made by the President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, Mohammed Ibrahim, during the association’s National Leadership Retreat in Abuja on Wednesday.

Ibrahim, who also serves as the National Internal Auditor of the NLC, emphasised that state governments and institutions delaying or manipulating wage payments would face serious consequences.

Addressing journalists, Ibrahim criticised what he called the insincerity of some state governments and employers, accusing them of merely treating the wage increase as an “award” without proper implementation.

“The national minimum wage has been signed into law, and payments should have commenced nationwide. However, in most institutions and states, what they did was just to announce a figure without truly implementing it,” he said.

He noted that the intervention of the NLC had already forced some state governments to rush into agreements—many of which, he described, as “kangaroo agreements that have not seen the light of day.”

He said, “But I am happy that the NLC is not sleeping on this matter and that we have been engaging. And you can see that it was only when the NLC gave the directive that any state government that refused to implement the national minimum wage should face a strike, that you started seeing different state governors rushing to sign.

“Most of them are even kangaroo agreements that have not seen the light of day. “

Ibrahim assured Nigerian workers that the NLC would not relent in its fight for full compliance.

“But going forward, I can assure you, because I am the National Internal Auditor of the NLC and at the level of leadership, we are taking very stringent measures to ensure that between now and the end of this first quarter, any state or employer of labour that refuses to implement the national minimum wage and refuses to adjust workers’ salaries accordingly will face the consequences. The labour laws are there, and we have all that it takes to enforce our rights against those employers,” he said.

Reacting to allegations that members of the National Assembly were demanding N8 million from university Vice Chancellors before approving their institutions’ budgets, Ibrahim said if the claims were true, SSANU and other labour unions would resist such corrupt practices.

He stated, “Well, number one, I am not a Vice Chancellor, and therefore I cannot speak on behalf of Vice Chancellors. But when too much of rumours, naturally metamorphose into a reality, before the budget defence, we didn’t hear about this allegation.

“Now that the budget defence is going on, we have heard the allegations, and we have not seen anybody from the Senate or from the House of Representatives coming out to deny it. We just pray that that is not true. Our unions will also look at this very passionately as we resume this year.

“And I’m telling you, the National Assembly is not too big for us to fight. We will fight them because all of them belong to our constituencies and we will chase them out without further delay, we will only work with progressives.”

He lamented that many universities in Nigeria are unable to afford their electricity bills and questioned where they would find money for bribes.

“If our leaders in the National Assembly are the ones demanding such payments, then our unions will take a stand. The National Assembly is not too big for us to fight. We will resist them because they are representatives of our constituencies,” he vowed.

On the challenges faced by labour unions, Ibrahim admitted that strike actions have lost their effectiveness due to government indifference and worker fatigue.

“Some of our own members sabotage our collective struggle by engaging in blackmail and underhand dealings to derail strikes. But this happens in every sector,” he noted.

While acknowledging the limitations of industrial actions, he stressed that SSANU and other unions were exploring alternative strategies for negotiation.

He also emphasised the importance of capacity-building and continuous training for university staff to ensure that Nigerian universities remain centres of excellence.

“SSANU is an affiliate of the NLC, and we have benefited from international training programs. It is important that we bring this knowledge home and share it with our members,” he said.