Obaseki raises minimum wage to N70,000

Godwin Obaseki, the governor of Edo State, has authorized a new N70,000 minimum wage for the state’s civil servants. 

Obaseki stated this while commissioning Edo State’s new Labour House on Monday.

According to him, the new wage will go into effect on May 1st, 2024.

This comes as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) confronts the Federal Government over raising the minimum wage to reflect rising national inflation and ballooning food inflation.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the inflation rate in March 2024 reached 33.2 percent, up from 31.70 percent in February. Food inflation also increased to 31.7% in March from 30% in February.

The National Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have demanded N615,000 as the new minimum wage for workers in the country.

The labour unions reached an accord when President Bola Tinubu, through Vice President Kashim Shettima, convened a 37-member panel at Abuja’s State House Council Chamber on January 30.

The panel, which included representatives from federal and state governments, the commercial sector, and organised labour, was entrusted with recommending a new national minimum wage.

At the panel’s maiden meeting, Shettima encouraged members to speedily’ reach a settlement and submit their reports before the existing N30,000 minimum salary expires at the end of March 2024.