NIGERIA’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, recently claimed that every employer in the country must pay their workers the new national minimum wage.
He made the claim on July 23, 2024 during the passing of the new national minimum wage bill at the National Assembly in Abuja.
The new legislation amends the National Minimum Wage Act of 2019 by addressing two key issues: raising the minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000 and reducing the review period from five years to three years.
READ: False claim on presidential aircraft attributed to Akpabio circulates online
This comes after months of back and forth from the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigerian government.
During the plenary session following the bill’s passage, Senate President Godswill Akpabio stated that Nigerians can no longer pay any domestic worker less than N70,000.
He made this known in about two-minute video which has now gone viral on social media, particularly on X and has been reposted multiple times by online users.
Part of the transcribed audio of the footage read:
“…It (the bill) only says that if you are a tailor and you employ an additional hand, you cannot pay the person below N70,000. If you are a mother and you have a newborn child and you want to bring in a housemaid to look after your child, you cannot pay that housemaid below N70,000. It is not maximum wage. It applies to all and sundry. If you bring in a driver, if you bring in a gateman — you cannot pay that gateman below N70,000. So, I am very delighted that this has been passed and we now look forward to employers of labour going ahead to improve on what has been set as a benchmark for all and sundry to follow…”
The video has gone viral and generated multiple reactions online.
CLAIM
All employers must pay their workers the new national minimum wage.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE!
Section 3 of the National Minimum Wage Act 2019 mandates that all employers must pay their workers at least the national minimum wage.
The law declares any agreement to pay wages below the national minimum wage as void, although there are exceptions.
According to Section 4 of the Act, the minimum wage requirement does not apply to employers with fewer than 25 employees.
ALSO READ: Akpabio repeats false claim about Lagos IGR under Tinubu
The Act also states that certain establishments are exempted from paying the minimum wage, such as part-time employees, employees paid on commission or piece-rate, fewer than 25 employees, workers in seasonal employment, such as agriculture, and any person employed on a vessel or aircraft governed by merchant shipping or civil aviation laws. Here’s the amended 2024 Act.
The Punch newspaper also found Akpabio’s statement to be FALSE as seen here.
THE VERDICT
The claim that all employers must pay their workers the new national minimum wage is FALSE; the National Minimum Wage Act exempts some employers with fewer than 25 employees, freelancers, and part-time employees, among few others.
Seasoned fact-checker and researcher Fatimah Quadri has written numerous fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy pieces for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or [email protected].
