President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced April 1st 2024 for the commencement of payment of the new minimum wage for federal government workers across the country.
The Minister of Information and Orientation Idris Muhammed disclosed this in an interview on Thursday 30th November 2023. He said the current minimum wage of thirty thousand naira would cease to exist from March 2024. According to him, this is coming on the heels of an analysis of the 2024-2026 Fiscal Framework budgets which indicated that the Tinubu’s government plan to spend N24.66tn on salaries.
As earlier announced, president Bola Ahmed Tinubu had agreed to pay N35,000 to each of the federal workers to cushion the fuel subsidy removal, which he announced on his inauguration day, May 29 2023.
Recall that the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have been logging horns with the Tinubu-led administration on sundry issues effecting Nigerian workers among which is the reviewing of minimum wage necessitated by the removal of fuel susidy.
Meanwhile on Thursday, November 30, 2023, the Labour Union confirmed that they are already negotiating with the federal government, stating that the law provided that the minimum wage should be reviewed every five years.
The minister equally cited that the improved minimum wage was meant to replace the current wage award put in place by the federal government to soft-pedal the harsh impact of the fuel subsidy on Nigerian workers.
“Certainly, there is a new wage regime that will come in on April 1, 2024. That is why these palliatives were targeted so they would cushion economic hardship before then.” Idris added.
