The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has demanded a new monthly minimum wage of ₦ 300,000 for federal workers.
The National President of ASCSN, Comrade Shehu Mohammed, made the demand on Thursday at the association’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, Naija News reports.
The meeting was attended by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi.
He declared that the current ₦70,000 national minimum wage can no longer guarantee a decent standard of living amid rising economic hardship.
Mohammed argued that the government must move beyond temporary palliatives and wage awards and implement a sustainable salary increase that reflects prevailing economic realities.
He said temporary interventions could not provide lasting solutions to the economic challenges facing Nigerian workers.
The ASCSN president said the government’s failure to fully implement previous relief packages, particularly the 2023 wage awards, had weakened workers’ confidence in temporary intervention measures.
He therefore urged the federal government not to wait until the next statutory minimum wage negotiation cycle before reviewing workers’ salaries.
The labour leader also demanded the settlement of outstanding promotion arrears, peculiar allowances and retirement benefits under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
“Rather than waiting until the next statutory minimum wage negotiation cycle, we demand that the Federal Government should act immediately by raising the salary of its lowest-paid worker to ₦300,000, with appropriate consequential adjustments across higher salary grade levels,” he said.
Responding, the Minister of Labour and Employment called for a stronger partnership between the federal government and organised labour, urging both sides to embrace dialogue and collaboration in addressing workers’ welfare.
The minister said disagreements between government and labour should be resolved through constructive engagement rather than strikes and prolonged confrontations.
“Government listens, Labour speaks, and together we find solutions that work for workers and for the nation,” he said.
