The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has slammed the N30,000 minimum salary paid by the Nigerian government as workers in Nigeria participate in the annual International Workers Day on May 1.
The former vice president lamented that the current minimum wage of N30,000 is insufficient for the majority of workers in Nigeria.
To honour Nigerian employees on the occasion of International employees Day, which is today, the PDP flag bearer made the pronouncement in a statement.
He urged Nigerian workers to remain hopeful rather than despondent, noting that he understands how their lives and the welfare of their families have been reduced to the “abyss of mere existence due to the litany of policy errors by the ruling APC government which created insecurity in all facets of workers’ lives — food, shelter, health, wealth, and education.”
He said that considering the numerous socio-economic struggles they have faced over the past eight years, workers should use Worker’s Day in 2023 as an opportunity for “sober reflection and stock-taking.”
He said “In Nigeria of today, the minimum wage of N30,000 cannot buy a full bag of rice, let alone cloth or pay for a worker’s many utility bills. Hyperinflation in all sectors of our nation has constituted serious socio-economic strangulation to the average Nigerian worker, who’s now poorer than in 2015 when APC came to power.”
Ada Peter
