Minimum Wage: NLC Breaks Silence on Alleged Negotiation of N40k Adjustment for Federal Workers

• The NLC strongly rejected claims that it negotiated the N40,000 consequential adjustment granted to federal workers after the 2024 minimum wage
• NLC Acting General Secretary Comrade Benson Upah signed a press release on November 8, 2026, clarifying who bears responsibility for consequential adjustments
• The labour body warned that misinformation about its role was designed to create confusion ahead of a new national minimum wage negotiation

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over nine years of experience covering politics, elections, public affairs, and governance in Nigeria and Africa.

FCT, Abuja - The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has publicly rejected claims that it was responsible for negotiating the N40,000 consequential adjustment given to federal workers following the rollout of the 2024 national minimum wage.

In a statement dated Sunday, November 8, 2026, signed by Acting General Secretary Benson Upah and sighted by Legit.ng, the NLC described the claims as false and a deliberate distortion of how collective bargaining works in Nigeria.

NLC's role in minimum wage process

According to the NLC, its function in the minimum wage process is limited to negotiating the national minimum wage itself, which sets the lowest pay threshold applicable across all sectors. The Congress said consequential adjustments, which determine how the new wage floor flows through pay scales, are the responsibility of unions within each sector.

For federal workers, the NLC noted that the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC) handles such talks, while private sector adjustments are managed through the Joint Negotiating Industrial Councils (JNICs) of the relevant industries. As an example, the NLC pointed to negotiations between the Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers (AFBTE) and the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) as the correct model for how sectoral adjustments are reached.

"The NLC represents both the private and public sectors. However, it is critically important to understand that the NLC does not sit at the table to negotiate consequential adjustments in the various sectors. The leadership of the unions in these sectors bears sole responsibility for the outcomes of consequential adjustments in their respective sectors," the statement said.

The NLC was equally direct in rejecting any link to the N40,000 figure:

"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 N40,000 outcome was the sole responsibility of the leadership of the unions in the public sector."

NLC denies negotiating consequential adjustments

The Congress stated that its leadership has never, at any point in the history of the minimum wage process, negotiated consequential adjustments directly with government or private sector employers.

Beyond setting the record straight, the NLC raised concern about the timing of the misinformation, saying unnamed opponents of the trade union movement were deliberately spreading confusion as preparations begin for a new national minimum wage negotiation.

"Any person who attributes the outcome of consequential adjustments to the NLC is either naïve, plainly ignorant, or involved in propagating outright mischief to mislead Nigerian workers and the masses," the statement added.

Furthermore, the NLC called on workers to stay alert and urged all stakeholders to work alongside both the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to build institutions that are properly accountable within the wage negotiation process.

Read the NLC's full statement here.

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TUC pushes periodic minimum wage hikes

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Festus Osifo, president of the TUC, said that organised labour is pushing for an annual increase in the national minimum wage paid to workers in Nigeria.

The TUC boss stated that members of the organisation, as well as their colleagues in the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), have begun talks on the issue.