A meeting held Sunday night between organized labor and the leadership of the National Assembly to find a middle ground and avert a proposed nationwide strike ended in a stalemate.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) insisted they would proceed with the strike on Monday, despite ongoing negotiations on their demands.
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, told journalists in Abuja that efforts by the National Assembly leadership to persuade the labor unions to suspend the strike had failed.
Akpabio expressed concern that the strike would paralyze the economy and increase hardship for Nigerians.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had approved an increase in electricity tariffs for customers in Band A classification, raising rates from N66 to N225 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on April 3.
This hike prompted public outcry and demands for its reversal. Organized labor responded by giving NERC and the federal government a May 31 ultimatum to reverse the tariff hike. Additionally, labor unions set the same deadline for the federal government to finalize the new national minimum wage process.
During negotiations, the federal government proposed incremental monthly minimum wages of N48,000, N54,000, and most recently N60,000. However, the NLC and TUC rejected these proposals, demanding N615,500, citing the high cost of living.
After the meeting with the National Assembly leadership, NLC and TUC representatives stated that they had presented their positions and received pleas to call off the strike, but such a decision was beyond their negotiating team's mandate. They indicated that the strike would continue while they consulted their respective organs about the government's proposals.
Akpabio reiterated that efforts to suspend the strike had failed, highlighting the severe economic and social impacts, including disruptions to healthcare services and the potential loss of lives. He appealed to the labor unions to return to the negotiating table to find a lasting solution to the minimum wage issue.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, also urged the federal government to review the N35,000 wage award for federal workers during ongoing minimum wage negotiations.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammad Idris, warned that the strike would worsen current hardships for Nigerians and questioned labor's refusal of the N35,000 wage award pending a new minimum wage agreement.
Idris emphasized that the federal government had been engaging with labor to prevent the strike and appealed for labor to consider the government's position and the National Assembly's leadership in resolving the issue.
He mentioned that an agreement to pay N60,000 monthly as a minimum wage could be secured through negotiations involving the federal and state governments, as well as the private sector.
The meeting was attended by several high-ranking officials, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; Head of Federal Civil Service, Folashade Yemi-Esan; and various ministers and principal officers of the Senate and House of Representatives.
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