Keyamo: ₦70,000 Minimum Wage No Longer Enough as Cost of Living Soars

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo

Keyamo: ₦70,000 Minimum Wage No Longer Enough as Cost of Living Soars

By Newstrends.ng

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has acknowledged that Nigeria’s ₦70,000 national minimum wage is no longer sufficient for workers to cope with the rising cost of living.

Keyamo made the statement at the 2026 National Pre-Retirement Summit, organised by XEM Consultants Limited in Abuja, where discussions focused on workers’ welfare, remuneration and the economic challenges confronting Nigerians.

The minister said economic pressures had substantially weakened workers’ purchasing power, making it necessary to consider an upward review of wages.

He urged the Federal Government and organised labour to find common ground in their ongoing discussions over workers’ pay, saying the government should meet labour “midway” rather than allow disagreements over the size of a proposed increase to stall negotiations.

Keyamo, who previously served as Minister of State for Labour and Employment, recalled the negotiations that led to the increase in Nigeria’s minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000 in 2024.

According to reports of his remarks, he argued that the present wage was no longer sufficient to absorb the economic pressures facing workers.

The minister’s comments came amid renewed pressure from organised labour for improved wages and measures to reduce the impact of rising living costs.

Reports indicate that labour representatives have cited figures as high as ₦500,000 in current discussions on a new minimum wage. The figure has been reported as a labour demand or opening position rather than an agreed new wage.

The debate is also taking place ahead of the expected review of the current wage framework. Reports from the summit said the current minimum-wage cycle, following reforms reducing the review period from five years to three, is due for review around 2027.

Keyamo also raised concerns about government spending priorities, particularly situations in which workers allegedly struggle to receive basic allowances while substantial resources are approved for official international trips.

He stressed the importance of workers to national productivity, arguing that the economy and government cannot function effectively without them.

Also speaking at the summit, Nigeria Labour Congress President Joe Ajaero reportedly argued that the real value of workers’ earnings should be measured by their purchasing power rather than the nominal amount printed on their pay slips.

Ajaero called for salaries and pensions to be linked to inflation or a cost-of-living index, arguing that such a mechanism would allow workers’ incomes to respond more directly to changes in the prices of essential goods and services.

The labour leader also called for government intervention to cushion workers against the impact of higher food and transportation costs.

The latest statements from Keyamo and labour leaders have renewed attention to the gap between Nigeria’s ₦70,000 statutory minimum wage and the cost of meeting basic household needs, as preparations for another wage review gather momentum.

For many Nigerian workers, the emerging wage debate is increasingly centred not simply on the amount stated on their monthly pay slip, but on what that income can actually buy amid rising prices.