No, Nigerian governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has not increased minimum wage for Lagos state workers to N70,000
IN SHORT: Several social media posts claim that the Lagos state governor has increased the minimum wage for civil servants from N35,000 to N75,000. But the posts are misleading.
"Lagos state Governor Sanwo-Olu confirms he has increased the minimum wage from 35,000 Naira to 70,000 Naira for Lagos state workers," reads a post on Facebook.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu is the governor of Lagos state in south-west Nigeria.
The post is accompanied by a video of Sanwo-Olu speaking at the launch of the Eko Cares initiative on 24 April 2024. The initiative aims to ease the burden on communities in Lagos state of the economic crisis.
Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with the rising cost of living leading to protests in some states in February.
Similar posts can be found on Facebook here and here. (Note: See more instances listed at the end of this report.)
But against this backdrop did Sanwo-Olu raise the minimum wage to N70,000 for civil servants? We checked.
Misleading posts
Africa Check found a video of Sanwo-Olu's full speech on the YouTube channel of media house TVC News. In it, Sanwo-Olu did not announce an increase in the minimum wage for state workers. Instead, the state implemented the minimum wage of N35,000 set by the federal government.
This has effectively doubled the income of civil servants from a minimum of N35,000 to around N70,000 and above.
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Sanwo-Olu also emphasised the government's commitment to paying the minimum wage allowance since January.
"The civil servants and all public officers know that since January, we have continued to pay the wage allowance of a minimum of N35,000 over and above what they were earning before. People that were earning a minimum of N35,000 to N40,000 before, they are now earning over N70,000. So, it's important for people to know and for us to lay this thing very clearly. This government has doubled up and has not left its citizens on their own," he said.
In a statement issued on 26 April, commissioner for information in Lagos Gbenga Omotoso clarified that the state had not increased the minimum wage.
"The Lagos State Government has not increased the minimum wage, contrary to the impression in some media reports, which emanated from the unveiling of Eko Cares ... He did not announce a new minimum wage of N70,000."
The social media posts suggesting that Sanwo-Olu announced an increase in the minimum wage to N70,000 for Lagos workers are misleading.
Similar posts can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
