The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has announced plans to engage with the federal government on strategies to help workers cope with the recent increase in petrol prices, which the union claims has undermined the expected benefits of the new ₦70,000 national minimum wage.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero, made this statement during the opening of a two-day workshop on “Minimum Wage Implementation Workshop, Southern Zone,” held in Lagos.
The workshop, themed “Strategies for Effective Implementation of the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act,” seeks to address the challenges surrounding wage implementation and the economic difficulties facing workers.
Ajaero voiced his frustration with the current situation, stating that the recent petrol price hike has diminished the value of the yet-to-be-implemented minimum wage.
He accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of misleading organized labour into accepting the ₦70,000 minimum wage on the false premise that it would prevent further fuel price increases.
Ajaero said, “There is a tactic to distract our attention, to call us names, level allegations against us over cybercrime, financing terrorism, sponsoring terrorism, and the rest.
“Those things have paid off because while we are facing those allegations, this issue of pump price has remained.”
He continued, “I repeat, we were betrayed by Mr President. That statement we issued over our being betrayed is being denied by officials of the government. I am repeating it, we were betrayed. Some of you here were at the meeting when Mr President said, ‘Ajaero, you are the problem.'”
Ajaero recalled the meeting, where President Tinubu gave them an ultimatum, stating, “Since we said subsidy is gone, you don’t want to allow us to increase again. If you allow me to increase, we will pay you that ₦250,000. Immediately I came out that day, I was on Arise Television. I repeated what Mr President told us.
“The president said I am giving you one hour to decide on this and get back to me. He said he was going back to his office, and we should decide on this (between ₦250,000 minimum wage and a petrol pump price hike).”
Ajaero noted that the NLC requested a week’s break to consult, but Tinubu agreed to cancel his trip for that period. “When we came back after consultations, we said to Mr President, no, we can’t allow you to increase to any length because that will affect all Nigerians, and we will be seen as selfish. Even the ₦250,000 will not be useful to us if we continue to increase salary, as it will make a mess of our economy. That ₦250,000 may not even be enough to buy fuel.”
He further explained how Tinubu offered to fund a trip for labour leaders to tour West African countries where petrol prices are significantly higher. “We responded by telling him to check the borders because that is why they are smuggling those products to those countries.”
Ajaero emphasized that during the adjourned meeting, they focused on the minimum wage, not on fuel price hikes. He admitted that some members still argued ₦70,000 was insufficient, while others said they could not pay it.
“This is the dilemma all of us are facing. In fact, the private sector employers in our meeting gave us a tough time. They refused to budge and wanted to vote with state government, federal government, and the private sector on one side, all against labour on the other side. These were some of the reasons behind those walkouts you saw,” he concluded.