The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has revealed that it rejected its ₦250,000 minimum wage demand to the federal government because President Bola Tinubu attached a condition to hike the pump price of petrol.

NLC president Joe Ajaero revealed this on Thursday in an interview on Channels Television, after organised labour’s meeting with the president in Abuja, where the N70,000 minimum wage was finally agreed upon.

Mr Ajaero stated that “accepting N70,000 was the best way to save Nigerians from further hardship” because settling for the N250,000 offer would worsen the biting economic hardship Nigerians are already facing.

He said, “At last week’s meeting, the President brought a proposal that ‘I will give you guys N250,000 if you allow me to equally increase the pump price of petroleum products,’ and we said, ‘No, we need to go and consult.’

“Today, we went there to tell him, ‘No.’ The labour movement can make sacrifices without allowing Nigerians to suffer further from the increase in the pump price of petroleum products,” Mr Ajaero noted.

Mr Ajaero also revealed that part of the agreement for organised labour to accept the N70,000 offer was that there will be wage reviews for Nigerian workers every three years, and no longer every five years.

The president will send an executive bill containing the new minimum wage agreement with organised labour to the National Assembly for it to be passed into law.