Labour Party pledges to provide Nigerians a minimum wage of N80,000

In the event that Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, wins the election next year, the party has pledged to enact a minimum salary of N80,000 to N100,000.

Ayo Olorunfemi, the party’s deputy national chairman, made this announcement on Thursday’s episode of Sunrise Daily on Channels Television.

Olorunfemi stated that the party intended to advocate for hourly paid jobs as mentioned in its manifesto while raising the present minimum wage from N30,000 to between N80,000 and N100,000.

In the LP’s manifesto, which was released a few days ago, Obi pushed for the payment of hourly wages rather than the nation’s current monthly system.

According to the LP chieftain, if a worker makes about N1,000 per hour at work, he can boast of earning N4,000 per day, which, depending on the nature of the job, can bring in between N80,000 and N100,000 per year.

“It depends on the nature of the job that would be given out. For instance, when you take a cursory look at the manual labourer out there, he does not take less than N2,500-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,” Olorunfemi said.

“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.” He added.

The LP leader said that the party is targeting “N80,000-N100,000” as a new monthly minimum wage, adding that “that is exactly where we are headed!” when pressed for more clarification on his statement.

Olorunfemi said the present N30,000 minimum wage does not reflect the realities of the sweat of the Nigerian workers, adding that the Labour Party would ensure the new wage structure is implemented if the party wins next year’s polls at the centre.

“As a matter of fact, you know the amount of oil in the name of oil theft that has been leaving this country,” Olorufemi added. “We know where these things are coming from. They say there is no money but we know these monies have been stashed in the rooms or toilets of a few persons.”