The African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday, called on President Bola Tinubu to increase workers minimum wage, while backing the organised labour’s demand for a substantial increase.
Atiku accused President Bola Tinubu of presiding over a ruthless economic squeeze in which workers are paid more on paper and condemned to live on less.
He said the Tinubu administration’s self-congratulatory talk of reform had become an insult to Nigerians whose wages vanish between the filling station and the food market.
In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communications of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said Tinubu’s reckless removal of the petrol subsidy sent prices soaring before any credible protection was in place for working families.
He said: “The government pulled away the floor, offered workers a flimsy umbrella and now applauds itself while the rain beats down on them.
“Fuel, transport, food and rent have devoured their earnings. This is a callous way to govern people who work hard and ask only for the means to live.
“Tinubu asked Nigerians to make sacrifices and treated the suffering that followed as an afterthought. Those with the least have been made to carry the heaviest load. That is the cruel arithmetic of this cost-of-living crisis.
“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?”