By Babatunde Okunlola

Claim: The Federal Government has agreed on N155,000 as Nigeria’s new national minimum wage. 

Verdict: False: A fact check by DUBAWA has revealed that the Federal Government has not agreed on N155,000 as the new national minimum wage with Labour Unions or any other party. 

Full Text

The rising inflation in Nigeria has led to the call for an increase in the national minimum wage among the country’s Labour Unions. This is to better help workers cope with the soaring inflation in the country. 

President Bola Tinubu inaugurated a Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage through Vice-President Kashim Shettima on Jan. 30, 2024. The committee is tasked with holding public hearings across the six geo-political zones with workers, civil society groups, private sector players, government officials, and other stakeholders to negotiate the minimum wage in Nigeria. The current minimum wage of N30,000 was approved in 2019 after a prolonged negotiation between the government and the Labour Union.

The committee is expected to submit its report to the federal government by the end of March, after which a bill will be sent to the National Assembly for approval.

Amidst this, an X post by A. Ayofe on March 26, 2024, claimed that the federal government has agreed on N155,000 as Nigeria’s new national minimum wage. He also claimed that this had been decided after negotiations were had.

The post’s caption reads, “The federal government has agreed on 155k as the new national minimum wage. The NLC & TUC chairmen, respectively, thanked all the members involved in the negotiations in a press conference. They urged the federal and state governments to implement the minimum wage as earlier agreed on more details shortly…” 

The post viewed over 210,000 times as of March 28, 2024, has generated over 1,300 likes, over 220 retweets, and close to 350 comments on the social media platform X.

The post also generated different reactions from users, some expressed excitement at this development, while others expressed scepticism.

An X user, Gerat Bourdillion, wrote: “Fake News”, while Obina Aguerie wrote: “Wonderful, is it feasible? Some states are struggling to pay the 30k.”

Another user, Micheal Agwogie, questioning the source is this news, wrote: “Source Please?”

Having observed the various reactions and engagement generated by the post, the contrasting figures for the new minimum wage demanded by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) earlier reported, and the anticipated outcomes from the Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum wage which the NLC earlier said would begin in April 2024, DUBAWA decided to fact check the claim to set the record straight.

Verification

A quick Google search enquiry using keywords from the post does not show any news report from any credible media outlets in Nigeria on this development. A further search on NLC’s social media platforms and State House website showed no article related to this development. 

We contacted Abimbola Fasasi, the TUC chairman in Osun State, who debunked the news as false and said there was no official confirmation of an agreement of N155,000 being reached between parties as of March 28, 2024. 

While speculations abound that President Bola Tinubu may announce the new minimum wage on May 1 in commemoration of International Labour Day, there needs to be a credible confirmation of an agreement being reached by both the federal government and labour unions on this.

Conclusion 

Our findings show no validity to the claim that the Federal Government has agreed on N155,000 as Nigeria’s new national minimum wage. The claim is, therefore, false.

The researcher produced this fact-check per the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame KariKari Fellowship, in partnership with Diamond 88.5 FM Nigeria, to enrich the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.