The Senate has approved a new minimum wage of ₦70,000 for all employees in Nigeria, including those in small-scale operations and informal sectors such as domestic work and tailoring. Senate President Godswill Akpabio emphasized that employers must comply with this regulation when hiring new workers, regardless of their industry.
“If you’re a tailor and you employ additional hands, you can’t pay the person below ₦70,000. If you have a housemaid, you cannot pay them below ₦70,000. If you hire a driver or a gateman, you cannot pay them below ₦70,000,” Akpabio stated while enacting the new minimum wage bill into law on the Senate floor.
The Senate passed the bill on Wednesday, July 23, amending the National Minimum Wage Act of 2019 to raise the minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000. Additionally, the Senate agreed to shorten the period for reviewing the National Minimum Wage from five years to three years.
However, Senator Ali Ndume from Borno State has criticized the government’s decision. He argued that the new minimum wage is insufficient given the current economic conditions. “People are suffering, people are angry, people are not happy. I am happy that yesterday, the President agreed with NLC to increase the salary to ₦70,000, which is a good move, but it takes more than that because, realistically, that is like a bag of rice, money that will buy a bag of rice or cover the cost of a bag of rice,” Ndume said in a video posted by Channels Television. He urged President Bola Tinubu to listen to the people’s concerns and take further action to address their needs.