NLC Denies Negotiating N40,000 Consequential Adjustment for Federal Workers

The Nigeria Labour Congress has denied negotiating the N40,000 consequential adjustment granted to federal government workers after the 2024 national minimum wage. In a press release dated November 8, 2026 and signed by Acting General Secretary Comrade Benson Upah, the NLC said claims linking its leadership to the adjustment are false and distort Nigeria’s collective bargaining framework.

The labour union said the responsibility for negotiating consequential adjustments rests with sector-specific unions and negotiating councils, not the NLC. It said the clarification was needed to address misinformation around the 2024 minimum wage negotiations and the adjustment process that followed.

How consequential adjustments are negotiated

According to the NLC, the national minimum wage is set through a tripartite negotiation involving organised labour, government and employers’ representatives. At that stage, the NLC’s mandate is to negotiate the national minimum wage, which is the basic wage floor below which no worker should be paid.

Once a new minimum wage is agreed, negotiations on consequential adjustments are handled by the respective unions and negotiating bodies across different sectors. The NLC said that although it represents workers in the public and private sectors, it does not negotiate consequential adjustments for individual sectors.

The union said: 'Therefore, 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.'

Public and private sector bargaining

In the public sector, the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council negotiates with the Federal Government on implementation and consequential adjustments. The council comprises government representatives and about eight trade unions. Its state-level counterparts perform similar functions with state governments.

For the private sector, industrial unions negotiate individually with employers’ associations based on the structure and conditions of their industries. The NLC cited the Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers and the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees as an example of sector-specific collective bargaining.

The NLC further stated that the adjustment was negotiated by public-sector unions. It said 'the N40,000 outcome was the sole responsibility of the leadership of the unions in the public sector.'

Minimum wage landscape

The clarification comes as Nigeria approaches another round of national minimum wage negotiations. The NLC said the exercise presents an opportunity to secure improved earnings for workers. It warned that attempts to shift responsibility for previous consequential adjustments could create confusion and division within the labour movement ahead of the talks. The union said it would work to ensure the outcome serves Nigerian workers and the wider population while approximating a living wage.

President Bola Tinubu signed the N70,000 national minimum wage into law on July 29, 2024, raising the previous N30,000 benchmark and reducing the review cycle from five years to three years. In May 2026, a review of state minimum wages showed several states had approved wages above the N70,000 federal benchmark, with Imo leading at N104,000. The review also highlighted differences in the pace and extent of implementation across states.

More recently, the Trade Union Congress rejected the Federal Government’s proposed N70,000 transportation allowance for six months, arguing that workers needed permanent salary increases rather than temporary relief. The union also called for an increase in the pay of the lowest-paid federal workers to N300,000.