By Ade Oyeyemi
Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently review the N70,000 national minimum wage, backing organised labour’s demand for higher pay for workers.
Atiku made the call on Sunday through the Director of Strategic Communications of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, amid renewed pressure from labour groups over the rising cost of living.
The Nigeria Labour Congress and other workers’ groups have recently called for a fresh review of wages, arguing that the purchasing power of the N70,000 minimum wage has been eroded by rising fuel, food and transportation costs.
Atiku criticised the Federal Government’s economic policies, arguing that workers were struggling to cope with the gap between their earnings and the rising cost of basic necessities.
He particularly faulted the removal of the petrol subsidy, saying the policy had contributed to higher transportation and household expenses without adequate measures to protect workers from the impact.
According to him, the current wage structure has become increasingly inadequate as the prices of essential commodities continue to rise.
Atiku said, “Fuel, transport, food and rent have devoured their earnings,” arguing that workers who were asked to make economic sacrifices were bearing a disproportionate share of the hardship.
He further questioned the purchasing power of the N70,000 minimum wage, using petrol prices to illustrate his argument.
“At N1,400 a litre, the entire N70,000 monthly minimum wage buys just 50 litres of petrol. What does the worker take home to feed the children? What pays the rent? What gets that worker back to work on Monday?” he asked.
Atiku also accused the Tinubu administration of celebrating economic reforms while Nigerians continued to grapple with rising household expenses.
The ADC candidate said the government should prioritise measures that would improve workers’ real income and protect vulnerable households from the effects of rising prices.
His position comes amid growing calls for a new wage review. In September, the Federal Workers Forum separately demanded an increase in the minimum wage from N70,000 to N300,000, while labour leaders have also argued that the existing wage no longer adequately reflects current economic conditions.
The renewed wage debate has also coincided with a fresh increase in petrol prices and mounting concerns over its effect on transportation and food costs. Reuters reported that petrol prices had risen to around N1,400 per litre in Lagos and Abuja, with higher prices recorded in some other parts of the country.
Atiku urged the Federal Government to respond to labour’s concerns with an upward review of workers’ pay, saying the priority should be ensuring that Nigerians can meet basic living expenses from their earnings.
