The Nigerian Senate passed a new minimum wage bill that mandates both government and private employers to pay domestic workers a minimum of N70,000.
The bill reduces the renewal period for wage reviews from five years to three years, ensuring that Nigerian workers will have their wages reassessed every three years instead of five.
The bill, which is expected to be signed by President Bola Tinubu in the coming weeks, is an amendment to the National Minimum Wage Act 2019.
The new bill amends the 2019 Act by increasing the minimum wage for workers from N30,000 to N70,000 and shortening the renewal period for wage reviews from five years to three years while keeping all other provisions unchanged.
Akpabo’s statement not factual
Nairametrics earlier reported that during the signing of the new bill, the president of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, said the minimum wage would apply to all domestic workers, without any exception.
According to Akpabio, every employer will pay the sum of N70,000 regardless of the condition of the employment conditions.
He said employers are expected to pay their gatemen, housemaids, and drivers the sum of N70,000.
“The bill says that if you are a tailor and you employ an additional hand, you cannot pay the person below N70,000. If you are a mother and you have a newborn child and you want to bring in a housemaid to look after your child, you cannot pay that housemaid below N70,000.
“It is not a maximum wage. It applies to all and sundry. If you bring in a driver, if you bring in a gateman — you cannot pay that gateman below N70,000.
“So, I congratulate the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), I congratulate all Nigerians, and I congratulate the senate and the national assembly in general for this epoch-making legislation which has even reduced the time of negotiation from five years to three years in view of the soaring effect of foodstuff. It is now necessary that we review it every three years instead of five years.” Akpabio said.
However, this statement is not factual as the National Minimum Wage 2019 made exemptions for certain employers of labour in the country.
Full List of employers exempted from N70,000 Minimum Wage
According to Section 3 (1) of the National Minimum Wage Act of 2019, the following employers are exempted from the payment of the minimum wage:
- Establishment in which workers are employed or paid on a part-time basis, commission or piece rate.
- An establishment that employs less than 25 persons.
- Workers in seasonal employment like agriculture.
- Any person employed in a vessel or aircraft to which the laws regulating merchant shipping or civil aviation apply.
