The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has strongly opposed the National Assembly’s proposal to transfer labour matters, including the national minimum wage from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List, warning that the move could severely undermine workers’ rights across the federation.
Speaking on Friday at the National Administrative Council (NAC) meeting of the Central Working Committee in Abeokuta, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, described the proposed constitutional amendment as a direct assault on Nigeria’s working class.
He warned that decentralising wage determination to individual states would create dangerous disparities and roll back decades of progress in labour rights.
“This attempt by lawmakers to tinker with the national minimum wage is not just ill-advised — it is a calculated effort to dismantle the wage protection framework that safeguards the Nigerian worker,” Ajaero declared.
He added that such a move contravenes International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, which treat labour and wage matters as national — not sub-national — issues.
According to Ajaero, pushing labour issues to the Concurrent List would pave the way for states to establish independent industrial courts and impose disparate wage regimes — a development he described as a “violation of global labour standards.”
“If the National Assembly insists on pursuing this misguided agenda, we will mobilise Nigerian workers to resist it — right up to election day,” he said, addressing journalists after the meeting.
Ajaero challenged lawmakers to lead by example if they truly believe in decentralising wage regulation.
“Let members of the National Assembly also have their salaries and allowances determined by their respective states. Only then can we take their proposal seriously,” he quipped.
He further clarified that the current national minimum wage of ₦70,000, recently approved through tripartite negotiation, already allows states the flexibility to pay more — a provision some states have already acted upon.
“There is no state, to our knowledge, that has formally rejected the new wage. This move is not about flexibility — it’s about eroding the very foundation of labour justice in Nigeria,” Ajaero asserted.
The NLC president called on lawmakers to focus on strengthening national institutions and upholding equity rather than pursuing divisive legislation that threatens national cohesion.
