National Assembly Quickly Approves Tinubu’s ₦70,000 Minimum Wage Bill

The Senate and the House of Representatives have quickly approved the National Minimum Wage Act 2019 (Amendment Bill).

KanyiDaily recalls that President Bola Tinubu sent the bill to the National Assembly on Tuesday, July 23, asking for it to be considered and approved quickly.

The bill passed its second and third readings in both chambers of the National Assembly within minutes of being sent over by the President.

In a unanimous vote after a clause consideration in the Committee of the Whole, the Senate and the House each passed the bill without delay.

President Tinubu is expected to sign it into law soon.

He requested that the minimum wage be increased from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000 and that the review period for the minimum wage be shortened from five years to three years.

Last Thursday, President Tinubu and the leaders of the Organised Labour agreed on the new minimum wage of ₦70,000 for Nigerian workers.

This agreement followed several rounds of negotiations, after months of failed talks with a committee that had initially proposed ₦62,000 while Labour had pushed for ₦250,000.

Labour accepted the ₦70,000 offer, partly because it also included a reduction in the review period from five years to three years. They had previously rejected an offer of ₦250,000 linked to a rise in petrol prices.

The bill’s passage comes about six weeks after President Tinubu announced during his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2024, that a new minimum wage bill would be sent to the National Assembly.

KanyiDaily recalls that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum had disagreed with the Federal Government over the new minimum wage, stating that it’s not practical and won’t work.