“N70,000 can’t stay forever” — FG signals fresh minimum wage review as costs keep rising
By: Oluwaseun M. Lawal
ABUJA — The Federal Government has hinted that the N70,000 minimum wage may soon be up for review. Not later. Not someday. Soon.
Less than two years after President Bola Tinubu approved the jump from N30,000 to N70,000 — a move many workers celebrated at the time — the government now admits what most Nigerians already feel every day at the market: prices have moved. Fast.
Speaking at the Good Governance Summit 2026 in Abuja, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the administration understands that the cost of living doesn’t freeze simply because a law was signed. That’s why the wage review cycle was cut from five years to three. To keep up. Or at least try to.
According to him, when the review process begins, the government will sit with labour not as a rival across the table, but as a partner. A careful partner, he suggested. Because the N70,000 that looked bold in 2024 doesn’t stretch the same way in 2026.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, added that policies are only meaningful if they show up in people’s daily lives. Not just in speeches. Not just on paper. If workers can’t feel the difference in their pockets, then something isn’t quite working.
And from the workers’ side, the message was simple. Williams Akporeha of Working People United reminded everyone that without workers, there’s no economy to talk about in the first place. No factories humming. No services running. No growth story to tell.
Now the real question lingers in the air — when the review starts, will wages truly catch up with reality? Or will reality move again before the ink dries?
Oluwaseun Musa Lawal is an Editor at REPORTERS ROOM with over eight years of professional journalism experience. He specializes in reporting on politics, climate change, health, and education, while also covering security, economic, and judicial affairs. His work is driven by a commitment to accuracy, balanced reporting, and public-interest journalism.
