Kingsley Chinda said the current inflationary pressure is creating a cost of living crisis in the country.
The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers), says anything less than N100,000 as minimum wage for Nigerian workers is unacceptable.
He urged the government to present a living wage for consideration.
He said 42 lawmakers in the House are in support of a living wage for workers, citing a recent motion recently moved by the House on the issue.
Mr Chinda spoke with journalists on Tuesday on the proposed living wage the lawmakers are advocating for workers.
Forty-two lawmakers, last week, moved a motion calling for a living wage for Nigerian workers. The lawmakers are advocating for nothing less than N100,000 per month.
The House subsequently set up an ad hoc committee with the mandate to review the possibility of a living wage.
Speaking on the proposed living wage, Mr Chinda said "No lawmaker today in Nigeria is happy about the situation in the country. That's why we're pushing for a living wage for all Nigerian workers. The take-home pay cannot take the worker home. We are very disturbed by the turn of events,' he said.
Mr Chinda said the current inflationary pressure is creating a cost of living crisis in the country.
"The rising inflationary rate in the country has had a negative effect on the cost of living with the galloping inflation that cuts across all facets of life.
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"As captured in the motion, Trade Economics in 2018 reported the living wage for an individual Nigerian and a Nigerian family to N43,200 per month and N137,600/respectively but this is pre-subsidy removal.
"Presently, no labourer can live in Nigeria with a wage less than N100,000 monthly. Also, according to the World Bank report, low purchasing in the country occasioned by a high inflationary rate has led to an increase in poverty across the country.
"But Nigerians should be rest assured that the resolutions reached by the House of Representatives have been activated and the ad hoc committee will transmit the outcome to the Senate for speedy concurrence.
"As representatives of Nigerians, we are very disturbed, and we are not going to rest on our oars until there's a permanent solution," he said.
Plan for minimum wage increment
Although the lawmakers have not specified what exactly is acceptable as a "living wage", they have ruled out accepting anything less than N100,000.
The removal of fuel subsidies by the current administration is fueling the call for the review of the N30,000 minimum wage.
The federal government in January announced its plans to implement a new minimum wage.
President Bola Tinubu who disclosed this in his New Year broadcast said the commitment is to ensure that the government's impact is felt by every Nigerian, with a specific focus on addressing the economic needs and well-being of the poor, vulnerable, and working-class citizens.
The government also set up a tripartite committee to determine a new minimum wage. The committee is chaired by a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Goni Aji.
