Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has promised to raise the national minimum wage and introduce measures to protect Nigerians from the rising cost of living crisis if elected president in 2027.
Atiku said his administration would begin work on raising the wage floor from its first day in office, arguing that the N70,000 national minimum wage had been eroded by rising prices of petrol, food, transportation, rent and other essential commodities.
In a statement on Sunday, issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communications of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said Nigerian workers were increasingly unable to sustain their families on their current earnings.
‘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. 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,’ Atiku said.
He also restated his proposal for a targeted production subsidy for petroleum products refined in Nigeria and sold to Nigerians, subject to spending limits, public accounting and independent auditing.
Atiku’s position came amid renewed pressure over the cost of living, with petrol prices reaching between N1,400 and N1,500 per litre in parts of the country.
He said, ‘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.’
The former vice president argued that the increase in the minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000 had failed to restore workers’ purchasing power because the prices of petrol and other basic necessities had risen substantially.
‘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?’ Atiku asked.
He said the impact of high petrol prices extended beyond filling stations, affecting transportation, agriculture, food production and 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,’ he said.
Atiku challenged President Bola Tinubu to negotiate a substantial wage adjustment that reflects the prevailing cost of living, while also taking measures to reduce the prices of essential goods and services.
‘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,’ he said.
Atiku said increasing workers’ pay without addressing the underlying drivers of inflation would provide only limited relief, insisting that wage policy must be accompanied by measures to boost domestic production and reduce energy costs.