The federal government has confirmed that the new minimum wage will come into effect from May 1, 2024.
News About Nigeria reports that the announcement was made by the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, during her address to Nigerian workers at the May Day celebration held at the Eagle Square in Abuja on Wednesday.
Onyejeocha said that while the new national minimum wage was not readily available before May 1, extensive consultations are underway to ensure that the document is released expeditiously.
Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has said that it is in support of the Federal Government increasing the minimum wage of workers in the country.
The president of the union, Festus Osifo, made this known while speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday.
He noted that increasing the minimum wage for civil servants will not affect the government or worsen inflation in the country.
He maintained that the increase is needed and justified because the revenue allocation to states has increased since May 2023, which has in turn provided more money for the Federal Government to carry out more projects.
“If you look today, from May 2023 to date, revenue from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) to the state governments has tripled,” he said.
“This means the state government has more money to build roads and schools and to purchase other items.
“The most critical aspect of production is labour. It is for you to take part of the money and pay workers. That won’t increase inflation because the money will be spent anyway; if you don’t give it to workers, it will be spent on other projects,” he stated.
