President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, has issued a stern warning to the National Assembly over moves to transfer labour matters including the national minimum wage from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List.

Speaking on Friday at the National Administrative Council (NAC) meeting of the Central Working Committee in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Ajaero described the proposal as “an exercise in futility” and a direct assault on the rights of Nigerian workers.

According to him, the minimum wage is globally recognised as a national issue, consistent with International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, which treat member nations as single entities, not fragmented sub-national units.

“The National Assembly should not go into this exercise in futility unless members will also allow their respective states to determine their wages,” Ajaero warned.

He accused lawmakers pushing the move of attempting to “bastardise” the national wage structure and hand over labour-related matters to the states including the creation of state industrial courts a development he said would violate ILO principles and jeopardise workers’ welfare.

Ajaero further warned that any attempt to tamper with the national minimum wage would be met with mass resistance.

“If they attempt to smuggle labour matters into the concurrent list, we will mobilise workers to protest against it, even up to election day,” he threatened.

Reaffirming labour’s stance during a post-meeting interview, Ajaero insisted that the ₦70,000 minimum wage remains a national standard and must be respected. He acknowledged that while some states currently pay more, the floor of the wage structure must remain unified across Nigeria to protect workers’ rights.

“All over the world, there is a minimum wage for the protection of workers. The law permits states to pay more, and in fact, many currently do, but none should pay less,” he said.

On local government autonomy, Ajaero urged organised labour to pursue full implementation through a Supreme Court clarification of its ruling, stressing that constitutional provisions must be respected in enforcing autonomy at the grassroots level.

The NLC president’s remarks come amid growing concerns that decentralising wage responsibilities could trigger inequality, exploitation, and disparity in workers’ welfare across the 36 states, especially those with weaker economies.