After extensive negotiations on Friday, the Federal Government and the organised private sector have raised their offer for the new minimum wage to ₦62,000, up from the previous proposal of ₦60,000. In response, organised labour has adjusted its demand to ₦250,000, down from an earlier demand of ₦494,000.

This development marks the conclusion of deliberations by the tripartite committee established by the Federal Government several months ago. The committee’s recommendations will now be forwarded to President Bola Tinubu, who is expected to present an executive bill to the National Assembly for legislative consideration.

The tripartite committee, formed in January, has completed its task, passing the responsibility to President Tinubu and subsequently to the National Assembly. All parties—labour, the organised private sector, and the Federal Government—acknowledge that the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 is inadequate given the country’s economic conditions. However, reaching a consensus on a new figure has been challenging.

While the government and the private sector found labour’s initial demand of ₦494,000 excessively high, labour considered the government’s ₦60,000 offer insufficient. Following the expiration of a labour-issued ultimatum on May 31, unions commenced a strike on June 3, disrupting business operations nationwide. The strike was suspended on Tuesday after the Federal Government committed to increasing the minimum wage beyond ₦60,000, leading to the resumption of negotiations.

Despite the government and private sector’s latest offer of an additional ₦2,000, it remains uncertain whether this proposal will satisfy labour’s demands, as workers had previously vowed not to accept a marginal increase.

The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, commented on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” on Tuesday, hours after the Organised Labour, comprising the TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), suspended their strike which began at 12:01 am on Monday.

“At the meeting on Friday, the tripartite committee indicated they would not add anything more to the ₦60,000, but during Monday’s meeting, President Tinubu committed to exceeding this amount,” Osifo stated.

When asked if labour would accept a minimal increase, the TUC president responded, “No, we made it clear that adding a few thousand naira is not acceptable. We received assurances that a more substantial increase would be considered.”