N’Assembly passes N70,000 minimum wage bill

The Senate and House of Representatives have passed the National Minimum Wage Act 2019 (Amendment Bill).

The bill, which went through second and third readings in both legislative chambers of the National Assembly within minutes of being transmitted by President Bola Tinubu, was approved separately by the lawmakers on Tuesday.

The bill passed its third reading and was approved by the Senate, following a unanimous vote after a clause-by-clause consideration in the Committee of the Whole.
President Tinubu is now expected to sign the bill into law.

Hitherto, the president had transmitted the bill to the National Assembly for consideration and passage, after which he separately wrote to the Senate and the House of Representatives and requested prompt consideration to amend the National Minimum Wage Act 2019, increasing the National Minimum Wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000.

Tinubu also requested the lawmakers to reduce the period for periodic review of the national minimum wage from five years to three years.

Last Thursday, the president and the leadership of the organised Labour reached an agreement on ₦70,000 as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.