Atiku Rages: ₦70,000 Minimum Wage Insufficient Amidst Soaring Living Costs

Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has voiced strong support for organised labour’s demand for a significant increase in the minimum wage. He critically accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of creating a severe economic squeeze, where workers are nominally paid more but effectively left with less due to rampant inflation. Atiku stated that the government’s self-congratulatory narratives about economic reform are an "insult to Nigerians" whose earnings are rapidly depleted between essential expenditures like fuel and food.

Highlighting the root cause of the crisis, Atiku pointed to President Tinubu’s "reckless removal of the petrol subsidy." This policy, he argued, sent prices soaring without any adequate protective measures in place for working families. He used a vivid analogy, stating, “The government pulled away the floor, offered workers a flimsy umbrella and now applauds itself while the rain beats down on them.” He detailed how the costs of fuel, transport, food, and rent have cumulatively "devoured their earnings," describing it as a "callous way to govern people who work hard and ask only for the means to live."

Atiku further criticized the administration for asking Nigerians to make sacrifices while treating their subsequent suffering as an "afterthought," noting that "Those with the least have been made to carry the heaviest load. That is the cruel arithmetic of this cost-of-living crisis." He illustrated the drastic loss of purchasing power: at ₦1,400 per litre, the entire ₦70,000 monthly minimum wage can only purchase 50 litres of petrol. He questioned the viability of such a wage, asking, “What does the worker take home to feed the children? What pays the rent? What gets that worker back to work on Monday?”

The ADC candidate elaborated that the increase from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000 had demonstrably failed to restore purchasing power. He recalled that in April 2023, with a national average petrol price of ₦254.06 per litre, ₦30,000 could buy approximately 118 litres. In contrast, today's ₦70,000 wage, at ₦1,400 per litre, only covers 50 litres. This stark comparison led him to conclude, “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.”

Atiku also benchmarked Nigeria’s minimum wage against other oil-producing and African economies, revealing a significant disparity. Using exchange rates from July 24, 2026, he cited Libya’s monthly minimum wage as approximately ₦213,000; Algeria’s, ₦245,000; Equatorial Guinea’s, ₦302,000; and Gabon’s, ₦351,000. Even the Benin Republic’s minimum wage surpassed Nigeria’s when converted. While acknowledging differing wage rules and living costs across countries, he asserted that these differences do not justify Nigeria's ₦70,000 being deemed adequate for a worker facing current prices.

Concluding his statement, Atiku passionately declared the Nigerian worker as "the engine of this country’s productive life," yet expressed dismay that "Tinubu expects that engine to run without fuel." He painted a poignant picture of a worker toiling all day only to face uncertainty about affording transport home or feeding their family, labeling it a "national disgrace." He argued, “You cannot work people to exhaustion, pay them into poverty and lecture them about productivity. If a full month’s wage cannot sustain a worker’s family, government has failed the people who keep this country moving.”