Monday Reuben, Abuja
DAILY COURIER - The management of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has refuted claims circulating in the media regarding the payment of a ₦70,000 minimum wage to corps members.
In a statement signed by the Director of Information and Public Relations, Eddy Megwa, the NYSC urged corps members, parents, and the public to disregard the misinformation, clarifying that no directive has been received from the relevant government sector responsible for increasing corps members' allowances.
The statement emphasized that corps members are already familiar with the approved channels and modes of communication within the scheme and should therefore ignore misleading information.
The NYSC also warned corps members to be wary of mischief-makers attempting to deceive them and the general public.
In 2020, the NYSC increased corps members' allowances from ₦19,800 to ₦33,000, following the signing of a new minimum wage bill of ₦30,000.
In late July, President Bola Tinubu signed a new minimum wage bill into law, ending months of discussions between government authorities, labor unions, and the private sector. The new law increased the National Minimum Wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000.
"The signing of the minimum wage bill into law by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is both a promise kept and a demonstration of his people-centric governance model," the statement read. "Tinubu promised to pay a living wage to Nigerian workers during his election campaigns, and he has fulfilled that promise."
**Long Walk to Minimum Wage**
President Tinubu’s move followed months of negotiations with labor unions, which had initially proposed ₦494,000 as a new minimum wage. The government initially offered ₦60,000, but after several rounds of negotiations, the figure settled at ₦70,000.
The ₦70,000 minimum wage will be reviewed every three years. After reaching an agreement, President Tinubu promptly transmitted the bill to the National Assembly, which passed it in one day.
The new law comes at a time when the cost of living in Nigeria is soaring, with the country’s inflation rate hitting 34 percent in June 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).