Nigeria passes minimum wage bill as authorities warn against protests

LAGOS - Nigeria's national assembly on Tuesday passed a bill to more than double the minimum wage for federal workers, with the authorities warning against protests over soaring living costs.

The monthly minimum wage is set to rise from 30,000 to 70,000 naira (around $43) once President Bola Ahmed Tinubu gives his assent to the bill, which passed rapidly through the Senate and House of Representatives.

Lawmakers also reduced the review period for the wage from five years to three years.

Passing the bill was "important to the Nigerian people", said Senate president Godswill Akpabio from Tinubu's APC party.

Africa's most populous nation has seen a series of labour strikes in recent months as unions pushed for an increase in the wage.

The cost of living spiked after Tinubu ended a costly fuel subsidy and eased foreign exchange controls following his inauguration in May last year.

Inflation hit record levels at 34.19 percent in June, with food inflation more than 40.87 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Unions agreed to the increase after a deadlock and months of negotiations, even though the hike was far less than they had demanded.

The new wage level applies to federal workers, from civil servants to airport staff and teachers.

The passage of the bill comes as calls have appeared online for Nigerians to join nationwide protests against Tinubu's policies, with some urging peaceful rallies from August 1 to "End Bad Governance in Nigeria".

But information minister Mohammed Idris said the president had asked demonstrators to hold off.

"On the issue of the planned protest, Mr President does not see any need for that, he asked them to shelve that plan and he has asked them to await the government's response to all their pleas," Idris told journalists in Abuja.

Nigerian media also reported that police chief Kayode Egbetokun had warned against attempts to replicate recent anti-government protests in Kenya.

"Some groups of people, self-appointed crusaders and influencers, have been strategizing and mobilising potential protesters to unleash terror in the land under the guise of replicating the recent Kenya protests," he was quoted as saying.

"While the force acknowledges the right to peaceful protest as enshrined in our constitution, we must ensure that these protests do not snowball into violence or disorder."