On July 18, 2024, the president, Bola Tinubu and the leadership of organised Labour (constituent organisations) agreed on ₦70,000 as the new national minimum wage for Nigerian workers. This agreement followed a series of talks between Labour leaders and the government’s tripartite committee on minimum wage constituted by the President in January 2024.
After the announcement and acceptance by organised Labour, the president transmitted the National Minimum Wage Bill to the National Assembly for consideration and possible passage into law.
On July 23, 2024, the House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously passed the bill. The bill scaled second and third readings at both legislative chambers in the National Assembly.
The National Assembly is expected to transmit the bill back to the president who will sign the bill into law.
While making comments after the bill was passed, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said “If you’re a tailor and you employ additional hands, you can’t pay the person below ₦70,000. If you are a mother and you have a newborn child and you want to bring in the housemaid to look after your child, you cannot pay them below ₦70,000. It is not a maximum wage, it applies to all and sundry. If you bring a driver or a gateman, you cannot pay them below ₦70,000.”
Claim: The newly passed minimum wage of ₦70,000 applies to all and sundry.
Verification:
The National Minimum Wage Act, 2019, referred to as “the Principal Act” was amended and now referred to as the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Bill, 2024. The difference between the Principal Act and the recently amended bill is the insertion of sections 3 (1) and 3 (4). They are:
3(1). Every employer shall pay a national minimum wage of not less than ₦70,000 per month to every worker under his establishment, except otherwise provided under this Act. ….
3(4). The national minimum wage expires after three years, and it shall be reviewed in line with the provisions of this Act.
The interpretation of the 3(1) of the amended minimum wage bill is that every employer shall pay a national minimum wage of ₦70,000 per month to every worker under his establishment, except otherwise provided under this act. This means that the Principal Act, which is the National Minimum Wage Act, 2019, will be followed in this regard.
According to the National Minimum Wage Act, 2019, in the section tagged “exemptions” in 4.—(1) Section 3 (1), the payment of ₦70,000 per month does not apply to—
(a) an establishment in which workers are employed or paid on— (i) & a part-time basis, and (ii) commission or piece-rate ; (5) an establishment employing less than 25 persons ; (c) workers in seasonal employment like agriculture; and (d) any person employed in a vessel or aircraft to which the laws regulating merchant shipping or civil aviation apply.
The interpretation is that for the National Minimum Wage Act, 2019 and the newly passed National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Bill, 2024, workers employed in an organised structure by the government or those with huge workforce and full-time basis are mandated to pay the ₦70,000 minimum wage. Hence, informal structures such as households and other form of establishments with less than 25 persons are not mandated to pay the ₦70,000 minimum wage.
Therefore, the submission by the Senate president is misleading.
Verdict: Misleading
The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Bill, 2024 does not mandate all employers to pay the ₦70,000 minimum wage to their employees. Persons with less than 25 workers are not mandated (exempted) to pay the new minimum wage. Other categories of employees that are exempted from receiving the minimum wage are highlighted in the Principal Act.