By Michael Oche
Amid the rising cost of living and mounting pressure on workers’ incomes, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has urged the Federal Government to increase workers’ salaries without waiting for the next review of the national minimum wage.
The labour centre said workers should not be made to wait until 2027 before government takes further steps to improve their purchasing power, arguing that the current minimum wage should serve as a wage floor rather than a ceiling.
The TUC President, Comrade Festus Osifo, said the government could independently increase the salaries of federal workers or raise the pay of the least-paid employees without waiting for a new Minimum Wage Act.
Osifo spoke on Wednesday evening in Abuja at a press briefing following the National Administrative Council (NAC) meeting of the labour centre.
His call comes amid continued concerns over the erosion of workers’ purchasing power by rising living costs. Organised labour has repeatedly demanded measures to cushion workers from the impact of higher prices of food, transportation and other essential goods.
Osifo said the national minimum wage should be regarded as a statutory wage floor and not a ceiling that prevents government or employers from paying workers substantially above the prescribed minimum.
According to him, government could decide to increase the salaries of its workers at any time, irrespective of the minimum wage review cycle.
“Government does not even need to wait for a new Minimum Wage Act to be signed before government will take care of its workers.
“Government can wake up today and say, ‘Okay, I want to pay the least-paid worker in the Federal Government payroll N200,000,’ for example. They could say, ‘Let the least-paid worker be N400,000,’ for example, and graduate it upwards.
“Is that only the minimum wage for government to do that? No. That is not really the function of a minimum wage,” Osifo said.
The TUC president argued that employers in several sectors already pay workers considerably above the statutory minimum, with remuneration often determined by the nature and value of the job.
He cited the banking, food and beverage, and oil and gas sectors as examples, saying university graduates employed by major companies in these sectors are not ordinarily paid the national minimum wage.
“If you are a university graduate and you are to be employed in a bank, are they going to start you from the minimum wage? The answer is no. The pay you will earn is much above minimum wage,” he said.
Osifo said the same principle applied to companies in the food and beverage industry.
He also cited oil and gas companies, saying remuneration in the sector was based largely on the nature and value of the jobs rather than the statutory wage floor.
“They are going to be talking about living wage,” he said.
Osifo therefore called on the Federal Government to take immediate measures to improve workers’ incomes rather than leaving them to wait for the next statutory minimum wage review.
He said the TUC had already engaged government officials, including the Minister of Finance and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, on measures that could improve workers’ welfare.
“For us, you don’t really need a new minimum wage to take care of your employees in several sectors. That is not how it is done,” he said.
The labour leader also said government could review workers’ allowances independently of the minimum wage, stressing that employees should not be left to bear the full weight of ongoing economic reforms until 2027.
“Allowances don’t need a minimum wage conversation, and even salaries, government on its own can actually push the salaries of workers up, even without minimum wage conversation,” Osifo said.
The current national minimum wage of N70,000 was signed into law in 2024 for a three-year period. Organised labour has already begun preparations for the next wage review, with the unions previously indicating that renegotiation would be necessary in response to changing economic conditions.
Osifo, however, maintained that government had options for improving workers’ welfare before the next minimum wage review.
He further cited Ghana as an example of a country where government could take measures to improve workers’ pay without necessarily waiting for a new minimum wage to be introduced.
“Government can decide to pay whatever it takes to take care of its employees. Employers can decide to do way above what is there at the minimum threshold,” he said.
