The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has denied negotiating the N40,000 consequential adjustment granted to federal government workers following the implementation of the 2024 national minimum wage.
The union, in a statement dated November 8, 2026, and signed by its Acting General Secretary, Comrade Benson Upah, described claims attributing the adjustment to its leadership as false and a distortion of Nigeria’s collective bargaining framework.
The NLC said negotiations on consequential adjustments were the responsibility of sector-specific unions and negotiating councils, not the national labour body.
It explained that its mandate in national minimum wage negotiations was to determine the minimum wage, which serves as the basic wage floor below which no worker should be paid.
However, after a new minimum wage is agreed upon, negotiations on consequential adjustments are handled by unions and negotiating bodies within the respective sectors.
“Therefore, the claim that the NLC was responsible for negotiating the N40,000 across-the-board addition as consequential adjustment for federal workers is not only false but is a deliberate distortion of the collective bargaining framework in Nigeria,” the statement said.
In the public sector, the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC), comprising government representatives and about eight trade unions, negotiates with the Federal Government on the implementation of minimum wage agreements and consequential adjustments.
The NLC said state-level counterparts perform similar functions in negotiations with state governments, while industrial unions in the private sector negotiate with employers’ associations based on the conditions of their respective industries.
It cited the Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers and the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees as an example of sector-specific collective bargaining.
The Congress maintained that the N40,000 adjustment was negotiated by public-sector unions, stressing that the outcome was the responsibility of their leadership.
NLC Prepares For Fresh Minimum Wage Talks.
The clarification comes as Nigeria approaches another round of national minimum wage negotiations.
The NLC said the forthcoming exercise presents an opportunity to secure improved earnings for workers, warning that attempts to shift responsibility for previous consequential adjustments could create confusion and division within the labour movement.
It pledged to work towards an outcome that serves the interests of Nigerian workers and the wider population while approximating a living wage.
President Bola Tinubu signed the N70,000 national minimum wage into law on July 29, 2024, replacing the previous N30,000 benchmark and reducing the minimum wage review cycle from five years to three years.
In May 2026, a review of minimum wages across Nigerian states showed that several had approved wages above the federal benchmark, with Imo State leading at N104,000.
More recently, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) rejected the Federal Government’s proposed N70,000 transportation allowance for six months, arguing that workers needed permanent salary increases rather than temporary relief.
The union also called for an increase in the pay of the lowest-paid federal workers to N300,000.
