Peter Obi's Labour Party promises to increase minimum wage to between N80,000 and N100,000 a month

GOVERNOR Peter Obi's Labour Party has pledged to increase Nigeria's minimum wage to between N80,000 ($180) and N100,000 a month from the current paltry N30,000 if it wins the next presidential elections.

In February next year, Nigeria goes to the polls to elect a new president, with the ruling APC selecting former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Tinubu as its candidate and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) going for former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Former Anambra State governor Peter Obi and ex-Kano State governor Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso are the candidates of the Labour Party and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) respectively.

Having secured the nomination of the Labour Party, Governor Obi has tried to position himself as the candidate of working people. Earlier this week, the Labour Party unveiled its manifesto, with Governor Obi touting the payment of hourly wages against the current monthly format across the country.

Ayo Olorufemi, the party’s deputy national chairman, said: “It depends on the nature of the job that would be given out. For instance, when you take a cursory look at the manual labour out there, a labourer does not take less than N2,500 to N3,000 per day, which is still not okay as far as the reward system is concerned.

“If you divide N3,000 by six hours, you will be talking about N500 per hour. So, when you benchmark that against what we have now, certainly, you would be talking of something within the range of N500 to 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.”