The president has debunked reports that the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, proposed N105,000 per month as the new minimum wage.
News About Nigeria reported that during a meeting with the government negotiation team on the new minimum wage, led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, on Wednesday, Tinubu ordered Edun to come up with the cost implications of an affordable, sustainable, and realistic new minimum wage and present the figures within two days.
Edun, along with the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, presented the new minimum wage template during a meeting at the State House in Abuja on Thursday.
The meeting was held against the backdrop of ongoing discussions on revising the national minimum wage.
Sources quoted by WesternPost revealed that the proposed template recommends a new minimum wage of N105,000 for Nigerian workers.
However, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, debunked this via his X account on Thursday.
The presidential aide wrote, “The Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, has not proposed N105,000 minimum wage.
“The contrary story being disseminated is false.”
Previously, the government and the organised private sector had proposed a minimum wage of N60,000, which was rejected by organised labour representatives.
This rejection led to a nationwide strike on Monday, which was suspended on Tuesday following interventions and the signing of some agreements between the government and labour unions.
Despite assurances from the Nigerian government about presenting a new minimum wage higher than N60,000, the Nigeria Labour Congress reported on Thursday morning that the government had yet to finalise the new template.
In a video posted on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, the congress noted that no new offer had been made as of that morning, pending the submission from Finance Minister Wale Edun.
