The Labour Party has said the national minimum wage may be increased to between N80,000 and N100,000 if its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, is elected president in 2023.
This was touted by the Deputy National Chairman of the Labour Party, Ayo Olorunfemi, while appearing on a Channels Television programme, Sunrise Daily, on Thursday, December 8, 2023.
Making a case for an improved wage in the country, Olorunfemi said the party is considering implementing N80,000 to 100,000 as the new minimum wage depending on the job.
He argued that the present N30,000 minimum wage doesn’t reflect the reality of Nigerians, hence, the need for an upward review which the Labour Party has promised in its just-released manifesto.
Recall that Obi in his manifesto canvassed the idea of payment of hourly wages as against the current monthly format.
Olorunfemi’s words: “So, when you benchmark that against what we have now, certainly you would be talking of something within the range of N500-N1,000 per hour depending on the nature of work, and at the end of the day, someone can effectively say that he can make up to N4,000 in a day.
“And when you multiply N4,000 in a day by 20 or 25, we are talking about N80,000 or N100,000 in a month. N80,000-N100,000 that is exactly where we are going!”
“The Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have been brought in and plans are underway. When we get there you would see how this thing would work and I can assure you that Nigerian workers will be happier.
“We don’t have to expose how it will be implemented before they mess it up.”