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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
African Democratic Congress ( ADC) Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed support for the demand by organized labour for a substantial increase in the minimum wage, saying Nigerian workers need living wage.
Atiku, in a statement by the Director, Strategic Communication, ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, accused President Bola Tinubu of allegedly presiding over a ruthless economic squeeze in which workers are paid more on paper and condemned to live on less.
The Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC), recently demanded for an upward review of the N70,000 minimum wage to enable workers met with the rising cost of living.
Atiku, who is also a former Vice President, noted that President Tinubu’s alleged reckless removal of the petrol subsidy sent prices of food and other essential items soaring before any credible protection was in place for working families.
According to him, “The government pulled away the floor, offered workers a flimsy umbrella and now applauds itself while the rain beats down on them. Fuel, transport, food and rent have devoured their earnings. This is a callous way to govern people who work hard and ask only for the means to live.
“Tinubu asked Nigerians to make sacrifices and treated the suffering that followed as an afterthought. Those with the least have been made to carry the heaviest load. That is the cruel arithmetic of this cost-of-living crisis,” Atiku said.
“At ₦1,400 a litre, the entire ₦70,000 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?”
The ADC candidate stated that the increase of minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000 by the government has failed to restore purchasing power. He explained that as at April 2023 national average petrol price of ₦254.06 per litre, ₦30,000 could buy roughly 118 litres, while today, ₦70,000 buys only 50 litres at ₦1,400 per litre.
Atiku noted that “Nigeria’s wage floor compares poorly with those of several oil-producing and African economies, stating that using exchange rates from 24 July 2026, Libya’s monthly minimum wage was worth approximately ₦213,000; Algeria’s, ₦245,000; Equatorial Guinea’s, ₦302,000; and Gabon’s, ₦351,000. Even Benin Republic’s minimum wage stood above Nigeria’s when converted at those rates.
“The payslip has grown, but the fuel it can buy has more than halved. Tinubu has given workers a larger number and left them with a smaller life. That is hardship dressed up as a wage increase.
“Wage rules and living costs differ across countries, he said, but those differences cannot make ₦70,000 adequate for a Nigerian worker facing today’s prices.
The Nigerian worker is the engine of this country’s productive life, yet Tinubu expects that engine to run without fuel. A worker leaves home before dawn, gives the country a full day’s labour, then stands at a bus stop wondering whether the money left will pay the fare home or put food on the family table.
“That is a national disgrace. You cannot work people to exhaustion, pay them into poverty and lecture them about productivity. If a full month’s wage cannot sustain a worker’s family, government has failed the people who keep this country moving.’
The former Vice challenged President Tinubu to agree immediately to a substantial minimum-wage increase that reflects the real cost of food, transport, rent and power, stating that “If he has no intention of raising workers’ pay, he should say so plainly and stop stringing the Nigeria Labour Congress and other labour leaders along.
“Nigerian workers deserve an answer, not another round of meetings that ends where it began. I will begin the work of raising the wage floor from my first day in office,” Atiku said.
“Tinubu has eight months left in this term. Nigerian workers cannot be told to endure eight more months of hunger while his government debates whether their wages are enough. He must raise the wage floor and bring down the costs crushing families. From May 2027, my policies will protect the people: support Nigerian production, deliver relief at the pump and provide targeted help to those hit hardest by the cost-of-living crisis.”
Furthermore, Atiku, who reaffirmed his commitment to realistic wage adjustments, targeted social protection and measures to stabilise the cost of essential goods and energy, stated that “if we are serious about repairing the damage, better pay must be accompanied by lower living costs. Anything less leaves the Nigerian worker as the guinea pig in Tinubu’s economic experiment.”
He added“Nigerians do not eat FAAC figures. A full treasury is no answer to an empty kitchen. The test of this government is whether the men and women who work all month can live on what they earn.
“A living wage must buy a living. It is not a privilege; it is a basic right. Tinubu has made life painfully expensive. I will make life affordable again.”
