President Tinubu’s Meeting with Labour Leaders Ends Without Agreement

In a highly anticipated meeting at the State House in Abuja, President Bola Tinubu met with leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to discuss the ongoing negotiations on a new national minimum wage. The meeting ended without an agreement, with the labour leaders maintaining their stance on a minimum wage of N250,000.

The meeting comes amid the ongoing negotiations in the country between organised labour and the Nigerian government on a new national minimum wage. Representatives of the NLC and the TUC arrived at the State House in Abuja for the meeting with President Tinubu, which lasted for about an hour.

After the meeting, NLC President Joe Ajaero told reporters that they did not discuss “Naira and Kobo,” indicating that the meeting did not result in any concrete decisions on the minimum wage. The government and the organised private sector had proposed N62,000, while labour is insisting on N250,000.

President Tinubu is expected to make a decision on the N62,000 proposal of the government and the organised private sector, but it appears that the meeting did not result in any progress on this front. The labour leaders are set to meet with their members and revert back to the State House next week.

The meeting between President Tinubu and the labour leaders follows a recent submission by the Tripartite Committee on the new national minimum wage, which presented two conflicting figures to the President. The organised private sector and the government team had offered to pay N62,000, while the organised labour demanded N250,000.

The Nigerian government is currently on the verge of reaching an agreement with the labour unions on a new national minimum wage, with President Tinubu inviting the representatives of organised labour to a meeting at the Aso Villa on Thursday (today), hoping to settle the lingering talks on minimum wage.

The meeting between President Tinubu and the labour leaders is part of a series of consultations by the President with various stakeholders on the minimum wage issue. The President has delayed sending any figure to the National Assembly through an Executive Bill to consult with all the relevant stakeholders with a view to resolving all the contentious issues.

As the negotiations continue, it remains to be seen whether the Nigerian government and the labour unions will be able to reach an agreement on a new national minimum wage.