The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has vowed to press for an upward review of the N70,000 minimum wage in 2026, despite the wage being approved by the Federal government in July 2024.
This comes against the backdrop of rising costs of public transportation, healthcare services, house rents, among others.
According to the Minimum Wage Act passed in 2024, the next statutory review is due in 2027, following President Bola Tinubu’s decision to reduce the wage review cycle from five years to three years, in line with prevailing economic realities.
In a New Year message signed by Joe Ajaero, NLC president on Wednesday, the union demanded an urgent review of the minimum wage to align it with the country’s current economic situation.
The union stated: “Given the escalating inflation and widespread suffering, we demand an urgent wage review, as workers’ income must guarantee life, not mere survival, in furtherance of Mr President’s promise to pay a living wage.
We shall pursue this with every legitimate means at our disposal.”
Describing 2025 as “challenging” and a year that “exposed our vulnerabilities”, the NLC hailed Nigerian workers for surviving the economic onslaught visited on them in the outgoing year.
It said: “We enter this new year not with naive hope, but with a fortified resolve, strengthened by struggle and clarity. The promise of more faithful and meaningful engagement from the federal government, as pledged by the President, His Excellency, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, secured through our relentless pressure and collective voice, has opened a potential vista for dialogue. We acknowledge this platform and will engage deeply, consciously and patriotically.”
While urging workers to remain vigilant and patriotic, the NLC assured that its leadership would continue to “organise, mobilise and hold every tier of government accountable”.
It added: “We will work with and support only those governments and political actors who demonstrate, through clear, pro-people plans and actionable commitments, a genuine desire to uplift the masses from poverty and oppression.
“We reject outright those mercantilistic politicians whose stock-in-trade are empty promises, divisive rhetoric and policies that decimate our living standards for the benefit of a parasitic few.”
The union also assured workers that it would engage in tactful and strategic mobilisation in 2026 for the benefit of the Nigerian nation.
It said: “Real hope for Nigerians is possible only when burdens are lifted or minimised, or equitably shared; when trust is strengthened, and hopes and dreams are fulfilled, not betrayed.
“Security remains a fundamental right, and the primary duty of any state is to guarantee it, along with the safety of lives and property.
“We acknowledge recent successes and will continue to urge the state to build on the ongoing efforts, as the people deserve peace and security wherever they live. The government should not look back.
“The promise of 2026 is the promise of our unwavering struggle, our collective willingness to refuse to be divided by the ruling elite who seek to sow discord among us. We are the same people, workers and the masses, united by shared oppression and fear.”