The Trade Union Congress, TUC, has stated that increasing the minimum wage for civil servants will not exacerbate inflation. Festus Osifo, the president of TUC, made this statement in an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday.

Osifo justified the wage increase by pointing to the increased revenue allocation to states since May 2023.

He explained, "If you look at today's scenario, revenue from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) to the state governments has tripled since May 2023. This means that state governments have more funds to invest in infrastructure such as roads and schools, as well as other purchases." He emphasized the importance of labor in production and suggested that the money allocated for workers' salaries would be spent regardless.

He argued that paying workers what they are owed would not necessarily worsen inflation, as the money would be spent on other projects if not given to workers. This statement comes amidst economic challenges caused by the removal of petrol subsidies and the unification of exchange rate windows. It is worth noting that the federal government had approved a salary increase of between 25 percent and 35 percent for civil servants on the six consolidated salary structures.

In January, the government had established a 37-member tripartite committee on the minimum wage, after which organized labor proposed a new minimum wage of N615,000 for workers. The labor union has urged the government to announce the new minimum wage on Workers' Day.