Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately increase the national minimum wage, saying the current N70,000 wage has been eroded by rising costs of fuel, food, transport and housing.
Atiku made the demand on Sunday in a statement issued by the Director of Strategic Communications of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, while backing organised labour’s call for a substantial wage increase.
He argued that the increase from N30,000 to N70,000 had failed to restore workers’ purchasing power, particularly amid rising petrol prices.
“At N1,400 a litre, the entire N70,000 monthly minimum wage buys just 50 litres of petrol,” Atiku said.
“What does the worker take home to feed the children? What pays the rent? What gets that worker back to work on Monday?”
The former vice president accused the Tinubu administration of presiding over what he described as a “ruthless economic squeeze”, arguing that workers were earning more on paper but struggling to meet basic needs.
“The payslip has grown, but the fuel it can buy has more than halved,” he said.
“Tinubu has given workers a larger number and left them with a smaller life. That is hardship dressed up as a wage increase.”
Atiku linked the pressure on workers to the removal of the petrol subsidy, saying the policy had contributed to higher costs across the economy.
“Fuel, transport, food and rent have devoured their earnings,” he said.
He said the effect of petrol prices extended beyond filling stations, as higher energy and transportation costs were reflected in food prices, school transport and other household expenses.
“Petrol does not stay at the pump. Its price follows the farmer to market, enters the baker’s oven and appears in the fare a parent pays to take a child to school,” Atiku said.
He urged Tinubu to agree immediately to a substantial review of the minimum wage to reflect the prevailing costs of food, transport, rent and electricity.
Atiku also challenged the President to clearly state his position on organised labour’s demand for higher wages.
“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,” he said.
“Nigerian workers deserve an answer, not another round of meetings that ends where it began.”
Atiku further compared Nigeria’s wage floor with those of some African countries, citing figures which he said showed that Nigerian workers remained poorly paid when converted using exchange rates from July 24, 2026.
He said the monthly minimum wages were equivalent to about N213,000 in Libya, N245,000 in Algeria, N302,000 in Equatorial Guinea and N351,000 in Gabon.
He acknowledged that wage structures and living costs differed across countries but maintained that such differences did not make N70,000 adequate for Nigerian workers facing current prices.
Atiku also called for measures to reduce the cost of living alongside any wage increase.
He proposed a targeted production subsidy for petroleum products refined in Nigeria and sold to Nigerians, subject to a spending cap, public accounting and independent auditing.
“Government support must produce measurable relief at the pump,” he said.
Atiku said that if elected in 2027, his administration would pursue measures to raise the wage floor, support Nigerian production and provide targeted assistance to households affected by the cost-of-living crisis.
“I will begin the work of raising the wage floor from my first day in office,” he said.
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.”
The Federal Government increased the national minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000 in 2024 following negotiations with organised labour, with the wage review provided for after three years.
Atiku, however, maintained that the current purchasing power of the wage was insufficient to meet workers’ basic needs amid the prevailing cost pressures.