Minimum Wage: “N85,000 Not Enough for Lagos Workers,” Rhodes-Vivour Tells Sanwo-Olu

Minimum Wage: “N85,000 Not Enough for Lagos Workers,” Rhodes-Vivour Tells Sanwo-Olu

  • Lagos-based Labour Party chieftain Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour criticised Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu's government over the N85,000 minimum wage
  • Rhodes-Vivour insisted that the amount would not make a difference in the lives of Lagos state workers, considering the current economic situation
  • In a post shared on his X page, the LP governorship candidate suggested that N100,000 would suffice in this difficult time

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.

Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the 2023 governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos state, has commended Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for increasing the state’s minimum wage to N85,000.

LP chieftain tackles Lagos gov over N85k minimum wage
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour speaks on N85k minimum wage for Lagos workers. Photo credit: Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, Babajide Sanwo-Olu
Source: Facebook

Recall that Governor Sanwo-Olu announced that the minimum wage for civil servants in the state has been set at N85,000.

Sanwo-Olu said his government will increase the minimum wage of Lagos to N100,000 by January 2025.

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The governor made this announcement in an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday, October 16.

Why N85,000 is not enough for Lagos workers

Reacting, Rhodes-Vivour noted that the new minimum wage was insufficient to cater for the high cost of living in the state.

He stated this in a post shared on his X page on Thursday, October 18.

Rhodes-Vivour highlighted that the city has the highest intra-city public transportation costs in Nigeria, particularly for motorcycle rides. Additionally, Lagos ranks second nationally in the average cost of a healthy diet, making it the second most expensive city in the country for food.

The Labour Party chieftain tweeted:

"While the recent increase in the minimum wage to N85,000 is a step in the right direction, it's important to note that this amount falls significantly short of addressing the unique cost-of-living challenges faced by Lagos workers.

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"Given these factors, a minimum wage of at least N100,000 is necessary for Lagos workers to achieve parity with their counterparts in other states.
"Governor Sanwo-Olu boasts of increasing the Lagos budget from N600 billion to over N1 trillion, with a projected N3 trillion before his term ends. He also claims a 94% budget performance rate. However, these claims seem to be at odds with the reality of Lagos. The city still grapples with poor infrastructure, low investment in human capital and education outcomes, a struggling public transportation network, increasing slums and informal communities, and very few social welfare programs. These are the issues that truly matter to the people of Lagos, not just the size of the budget."

Read more about minimum wage here:

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Yobe ready to pay N70K minimum wage

In another development, Legit.ng reported that Yobe Governor Mai Mala Buni expressed readiness to pay workers in the state the newly approved N70,000 minimum wage.

To achieve this, Governor Buni approved the constitution of a 10-member committee to oversee the payment of the new national minimum wage.

The Head of Civil Service in the state, Hamidu M. Alhaji, confirmed the development in a statement on Thursday and shared further details.

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Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Esther Odili avatar

Esther Odili (Politics and Current Affairs Editor) Esther Odili is a journalist and a Politics/Current Affairs Editor at Legit.ng with 6+ years of experience. Before joining Legit.ng, Esther has worked with other reputable media houses, such as the New Telegraph newspaper and Galaxy Television. She Holds OND and HND in Mass Communication from NIJ, where she was recognized as the best student in print journalism in 2018. Email: esther.odili@corp.legit.ng.