The Labour Party has promised to implement a minimum wage of N80,000-N100,000 if its presidential candidate, Peter Obi wins next year's presidential election.
The party's Deputy National Chairman, Ayo Olorunfemi disclosed this during Channels Television's Sunrise Daily on Thursday.
Olorunfemi said the party was planning to increase the current minimum wage from N30,000 to the range of N80,000 and N100,000 while making a case for hourly paid jobs as outlined in their manifesto.
A few days ago, the LP unveiled its manifesto where Obi pushed for the payment of hourly wages as against the current monthly arrangement in the country.
The LP chieftain said if a worker receives about N1,000 per hour in a job, he can boast of nothing less than N4,000 in a day, and this can make the employee earns between N80,000 and N100,000 depending on the nature of the job.
"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."
When asked to further clarify his comment, the LP chieftain maintained that the party is eyeing "N80,000-N100,000" as a new monthly minimum wage, noting that "that is exactly where we are going!"
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."
