The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has called for early consensus-building among stakeholders ahead of negotiations for a new national minimum wage in 2027.

The Director-General of NECA, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, made the call during an interview on the sidelines of the ongoing 114th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) on Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mr Oyerinde said the review of the current minimum wage would require realistic engagement among government, employers and organised labour to achieve an outcome acceptable to all parties.

According to him, the process must be guided by the prevailing economic situation, workers’ welfare needs, enterprise sustainability and productivity considerations.

He stated, “We must look at the issue from a realistic context. There are four critical pillars that must guide whatever we are going to do next year.

“The first is the overall economic situation of the country; the second is the needs of workers and their families; the third is enterprise sustainability; while the fourth is productivity.”

He said the four pillars were interconnected and should form the basis for determining a minimum wage capable of supporting workers and sustaining businesses.

Mr Oyerinde noted that a viable minimum wage was not only beneficial to workers but also essential for employers because increased disposable income could stimulate business activities and economic growth.

“It’s not only workers that the minimum wage will serve; it will also serve employers because when people have enough disposable income, they can patronise businesses.

“If businesses cannot sell, they cannot survive, and if businesses cannot survive, we cannot create jobs. It is a circle that requires balance,” he said.

The NECA director-general cautioned against arbitrary wage proposals, saying figures should emerge from social dialogue and evidence-based consultations rather than political pronouncements.

He also questioned recent suggestions on a N100,000 minimum wage, arguing that such figures should be supported by research and consensus among social partners.

“When they touted N100,000, what was the foundation? What is the parameter? Where is the research that shows that this is the figure we should be talking about?” he queried.

Mr Oyerinde said that employers remained committed to the tripartite framework involving government, employers and labour in determining national wage policies.

He, however, warned that any arrangement excluding employers from wage negotiations could undermine the principles of social dialogue and weaken the legitimacy of eventual agreements.

“Anything that will erode tripartism and the foundation on which we are standing should be avoided. We are open to engaging. The private sector is not in the right place, but we are in a good place to negotiate,” he said.

According to him, NECA has already initiated preliminary engagements with organised labour to begin discussions on key parameters ahead of formal negotiations.

He said the objective was to identify areas of consensus and understand the red lines of all parties before the expiration of the current wage regime.

Mr Oyerinde also linked sustainable wage growth to broader economic reforms, particularly in power supply, energy costs, security and industrial productivity.

He said persistent challenges in those sectors continued to increase production costs and undermine the competitiveness of Nigerian businesses.

“We need to deal with power, energy and security challenges. If we don’t address those fundamentals, the outcome of our efforts will not really show,” he said.

He added that government efforts to address structural economic challenges should be sustained, noting that many of the country’s difficulties were long-standing and complex.

He expressed hope that continued engagement between government and the private sector would improve the business environment and support economic recovery.

The NECA director-general reiterated the association’s commitment to constructive dialogue aimed at achieving a fair, sustainable and economically realistic minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

(NAN)