NLC: Tinubu Offered Us N250k Minimum Wage To Accept N1,500 Petrol Price, But We Rejected It — Ajaero
Ajaero made the disclosure while speaking during an interview published on the official YouTube channel of Mic On Podcast on October 3, 2026.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Joe Ajaero, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu once offered organised labour a N250,000 minimum wage package if it agreed to an increase in the price of petrol to N1,500 per litre.
According to him, the proposal was discussed during a meeting with the President when the government and labour were negotiating the consequences of fuel subsidy removal.
Ajaero said labour rejected the offer because accepting higher wages in exchange for a much higher petrol price would have affected not only workers but Nigerians generally.
“He was talking about N1,500 and he said he would pay us N250,000. And we told him that we preferred to take even N70,000 than him increasing the price of petrol to N1,500 because it is not only the labour force that will suffer from this effect,” Ajaero said.
He explained that labour eventually agreed to the N70,000 minimum wage because it considered the amount reasonable at the time, while expecting the government to implement other measures contained in agreements reached after the subsidy removal.
Ajaero, however, said several of the government’s commitments, including cash transfers, CNG infrastructure, conversion kits and CNG buses, had not delivered the expected relief to workers.
He argued that the subsequent rise in petrol prices and the decline in the value of the naira had significantly reduced the purchasing power of the N70,000 minimum wage.
The NLC president also said labour’s concern was not simply about increasing salaries.
He maintained that controlling inflation, strengthening the naira and reducing the cost of living were necessary to ensure that any new minimum wage would have real value.
Ajaero warned that even a higher wage would provide little relief if food, transportation and housing costs continued to rise.
COURTESY: BellaAmanda
