Organised labour has begun pushing for another national minimum wage review despite widespread complaints that several State governments are yet to fully implement the existing N70,000 wage approved in 2024.
The development is deepening tensions between labour unions and state governments, with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), and Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) accusing some governors of selective implementation of the wage law.
President Bola Tinubu signed the N70,000 national minimum wage into law on July 29, 2024, increasing the benchmark from N30,000.
However, nearly two years later, labour leaders say implementation remains uneven across the country, particularly affecting local government workers, primary school teachers, and primary healthcare workers.
States repeatedly mentioned in labour complaints include Yobe, Zamfara, Gombe, Kaduna, Imo, Ebonyi, Cross River, Borno, Sokoto, and Taraba.
Others are Bauchi State, Nasarawa State, Adamawa State, Abia State, Benue State, Niger State, Kogi State, and the Federal Capital Territory area councils.
The unions alleged that while some governors publicly announced compliance, thousands of workers still receive old salaries, while consequential adjustments and arrears remain unresolved.
The growing frustration prompted the NLC, ahead of the 2026 International Workers’ Day celebration, to direct its state councils in defaulting states to abandon ceremonial May Day events and instead stage street protests.
In a circular signed by its General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, the Congress declared:
“Observe 2026 May Day on the Streets if the National Minimum Wage Act has not been fully implemented in your State.”
The NLC also warned against holding Workers’ Day celebrations inside Government Houses or venues organised alongside defaulting State governments.
“Comrades, the 2024 Minimum Wage Act did not come through supplication. It came through struggle. To celebrate May Day indoors while our rights are trampled upon is to betray that legacy,” the circular added.
Corroborating the NLC’s position, NULGE President Haruna Kankara disclosed that about 20 states were yet to fully implement the N70,000 minimum wage for local government workers and primary school teachers.
Speaking during the 2026 Workers’ Day celebration in Abuja, Kankara had listed Kaduna, Gombe, Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Imo, Ebonyi, Cross River, and the FCT among states with serious implementation gaps.
According to him, some governors implemented the wage increase only for State civil servants while excluding workers at the grassroots level.
The NUT also warned that teachers in several states were yet to fully benefit from the wage increase.
The union earlier identified Abia, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Gombe, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Yobe, Zamfara, and Enugu State among states experiencing implementation delays.
In the FCT, Area Council teachers have continued industrial action over non-implementation of the wage, while local government workers in Borno staged protests over alleged selective payment.
Workers in Zamfara and Cross River states have also threatened strike action over the delayed implementation.
Even as implementation disputes persist, organised labour is intensifying pressure for another wage review, arguing that inflation has already eroded the value of the ₦70,000 wage.
In his 2026 New Year message, NLC President Joe Ajaero said the Congress would pursue an urgent wage review because rising living costs had weakened workers’ purchasing power.
“Workers’ income must guarantee life, not mere survival,” Ajaero stated.
According to labour leaders, soaring food prices, transportation costs, electricity tariffs, rent, and naira depreciation have rapidly wiped out the gains of the wage increase.
The NLC and the Trade Union Congress have also announced plans to reopen negotiations for a fresh national wage structure by July 2026.
“The process for renegotiating the National Minimum Wage will commence by July 2026,” the labour centres stated.
The agitation has now expanded beyond calls for review to demands for significantly higher wage figures.
The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council recently demanded a new national minimum wage of ₦154,000, describing the current economic conditions as unbearable for workers.
Similarly, the Lagos State chapter of the NLC demanded an increase from ₦85,000 to ₦225,000 for workers in the state.
Lagos NLC Chairperson, Funmi Sessi, argued that inflation and the rising cost of living had made existing wages unsustainable.
Beyond fixed wage figures, organised labour is also advocating an inflation-linked wage system that automatically adjusts salaries in line with economic realities.
Ajaero recently hinted at what he described as a “radical shift” toward wage structures tied to living costs rather than fixed figures negotiated after long intervals.
While labour leaders insist workers can no longer survive on current wages, many state governments argue that shrinking revenues, rising wage bills, debt burdens, subsidy removal pressures, and weak local government finances are complicating implementation.
However, the NLC’s immediate past Acting General Secretary, Comrade Benson Upah, maintained that economic hardship could not justify non-compliance with the law.
“Economic hardship cannot become an excuse for violating a national law,” he said.