Nigerian lawmakers on Tuesday passed the minimum wage bill of 70,000 a month, ending months of wrangling between the government and labour unions.
The bill, which passed at an accelerated hearing, amends the 2019 minimum wage law, cutting the review period for public wages to three years from five years.
Nigeria’s main labour unions agreed on the new minimum wage last week Thursday after talks with the government after months of deadlock and the threat of strikes.
The bill passed without any opposition at the Senate and the lower parliament. It will become effective as soon as President Bola Tinubu gives his assent.
The minimum wage will rise from 30,000 naira a month after Nigeria’s two biggest union federations, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), argued that soaring prices and a weakening currency caused by reforms instituted by President Tinubu were hitting workers hard.
Africa’s most populous nation is grappling with the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, stoking fears of Kenyan-style protests that have rocked that country for nearly a month.
