The National Council of State has approved N27,000 as the minimum wage for the country.

The council approved the amount at its meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

President Muhammadu Buhari and former heads of state at the National Council of State meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, January 22, 2019.

Following the Council’s approval, a minimum wage bill is expected to be sent to the National Assembly on Wednesday.

According to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, the Federal Government is topping the approved amount by N3,000 to 30,000 for its workers.

He said the states are at liberty to augment the new agreement as they see fit.

The amount approved by the Council of State is N3,000 short of the N30,000 that the Tripartite Committee on Review of National Minimum Wage recommended.

The committee, chaired by a former Head of Service of the Federation, Ms Ama Pepple, had submitted the report, which contained the recommended figure, to President Muhammadu Buhari on November 6, 2018, after many months of deliberations.