CDD War Room received a claim through Check by Meedan, an online tip-line tool, that the Federal House of Representatives has proposed 100,000 Naira as the new minimum wage for workers in Nigeria. This was also claimed in a report by Intel Region titled, “JUST IN: House of Reps proposes N100,000 as minimum wage for Nigerian workers”
This is coming amid the clamour for a new minimum wage following the rising prices of food items since the removal of fuel subsidies. In 2023, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, called for a salary review, noting that the minimum wage would be negotiated to be N100,000 or N200,000.
In February 2024, Ajero said during an interview on national television that the union might demand N1 million as the new minimum wage as the initial amount suggested was no longer tenable.
Claim: House of Reps proposed N100k as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers
Verification
The CDD War Room found that during the plenary session at the Federal House of Representatives on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, the deputy minority leader, Aliyu Madaki, reportedly led the debate on the motion “Need to provide living wage for workers in Nigeria,” where he called for a sufficient minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
Madaki, who is a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) representing Dala Federal Constituency of Kano State, stated that an average Nigerian could no longer afford basic needs due to the rising rate of inflation in the country.
He said, “We are also aware that Trade Economics in 2018 reported the living wage for an individual Nigerian and a Nigerian family to be N43,200 per month and N137,600 per month, respectively. This was a pre-subsidy removal report. Further note that presently, no labourer can live in Nigeria with a wage of less than N100,000.00.”
The House adopted the motion after which it set up an ad-hoc committee to look into the modalities for the payment of living wages at rates that match economic realities. The Punch and Nairametrics reported the development here and here.
Verdict: MISLEADING
The House of Representatives has not decided on N100,000 as the proposed amount for the anticipated new minimum wage for Nigerian workers. A member only stated during the presentation of a motion at the plenary on March 6 that an average worker could no longer live well with a wage less than N100,000 given the current economic situation in the country.
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