African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate for the 2027 general election, Omoyele Sowore, has said no Nigerian can realistically survive on the current ₦70,000 minimum wage, insisting that even the ₦500,000 minimum wage he has proposed would still be too small amid the country’s worsening cost of living.
Sowore made the remarks on Friday morning while speaking as a guest on Rapid FM in Rivers State, where he defended his proposal to raise the minimum wage to ₦500,000.
During the interview, the presenter questioned whether such a significant wage increase could worsen inflation by putting more money into circulation without a corresponding increase in productivity.
Sowore rejected the argument, saying the focus should instead be on the factors driving inflation and the government’s failure to protect workers from the rising cost of basic necessities.
According to him, the current ₦70,000 minimum wage is grossly inadequate for workers to afford food, transportation, accommodation and other essential needs.
“There’s nobody technically, or realistically, that can live on ₦70,000 a month, even a newborn baby,” Sowore said.
He maintained that his proposed ₦500,000 minimum wage should not be regarded as excessive, arguing that it would only provide workers with enough income to meet basic living expenses.
“Even the ₦500,000 I’m proposing, in my view, it’s too small. But just for the sake of argument, say, okay, let’s pay people just enough to be able to make a living. That’s what the proposal is about,” he said.
Sowore also rejected the suggestion that higher wages are primarily responsible for Nigeria’s inflation, describing the country’s situation as “cost-push inflation.”
He argued that the rising cost of electricity, transportation, imported goods and other inputs has increased the cost of production, with businesses subsequently passing those costs on to consumers.
“It’s driven by cost. The type of inflation we have is called cost-push inflation. And it is because the cost of production is very high,” he said.
The AAC candidate pointed to the increase in electricity tariffs over the past three years as one of the factors contributing to the rising cost of production.
“You know how much electricity tariffs have jumped in the last three years,” he said.
He also linked rising transportation costs to the removal of the petrol subsidy, arguing that the increase in fuel prices had been transferred directly to commuters, businesses and consumers.
“It is caused by transportation cost. As a result of the removal of fuel subsidy, wherever you were going for ₦500 before, it became ₦2,000. That’s the cost of your inflation,” Sowore said.
He further blamed the depreciation of the naira and Nigeria’s heavy dependence on imports for worsening the cost-of-living crisis.
“Wages are too low; they can’t cope with the cost of living. That’s the cost of importation,” he said.
Sowore argued that the naira’s depreciation following the currency reforms introduced by the Federal Government had contributed significantly to the increase in the prices of goods and services.
“When they just came and floated the naira, at the same time they removed subsidy. That’s the cause of inflation,” he said.
He therefore called for measures aimed at reducing electricity and transportation costs and lowering the overall cost of production.
“If you want to change the direction of that inflation, you have to deal with this. You have to reduce electricity tariff. You have to bring back fuel subsidy. That would then force down the cost of transportation and reduce the cost of production,” Sowore said.
He argued that Nigeria’s high cost of production could eventually make locally produced goods more expensive than imported alternatives.
Using garri as an example, Sowore said the country could reach a point where importing the staple food from another country would be cheaper than producing it locally.
“It is easier for you to import garri – I just want to be ridiculous by saying from China, than to produce it in Rivers State now because the cost of production of garri in China is lower,” he said.
Sowore maintained that Nigeria must make its productive sector more competitive by reducing energy and transportation costs while providing reliable infrastructure for businesses and industries.
He also rejected the argument that workers should not receive higher wages because of concerns about productivity.
According to him, workers have a contractual relationship with their employers and should be adequately compensated for the work they perform, while employers and supervisors should be responsible for ensuring productivity.
“As long as you come to work as a contract, and you work from, say, 8 o’clock to 2pm or 4pm, I’m going to pay you enough money to enable you to survive,” he said.
He said concerns over whether civil servants are working efficiently should be addressed through proper supervision rather than by keeping their wages low.
“The argument as to whether the civil servants are doing work or not is not the argument we are having. That one is regulatory. That is the job of the supervisor,” he said.
Sowore also questioned the disparity between the earnings and working conditions of ordinary Nigerians and the allowances, privileges, convoys and other benefits enjoyed by political office holders.
He argued that government could create more financial space to improve workers’ wages by reducing what he described as wasteful spending and the high cost of governance.
“What has the Nigerian worker done wrong to you that you cannot take a little bit now?” he asked.
He particularly criticised the extensive convoys and security arrangements attached to governors and other senior public officials.
“I don’t understand till tomorrow why a governor who is living in his house in Port Harcourt, to go to his office needs an outrider,” Sowore said.
He also questioned the practice of commissioning government projects, arguing that completed projects should be judged by whether they are put to use and benefit citizens.
“I don’t know why a governor should commission a project in the first place. If a project is completed, it should be commissioned by use,” he said.
Sowore further questioned the large security votes allocated to governors, arguing that government spending should be subjected to greater scrutiny and redirected towards areas that directly improve citizens’ welfare.
“We waste so much money,” he said.
He maintained that cutting government overheads and reducing waste could create the resources needed to pay workers better without necessarily worsening inflation.
“So that people can go to work,” he said.
“If you don’t want people to work, you don’t want them to go to work, then don’t hire people to work for you. But the moment you have that contract, there’s so much work for you.”
Sowore insisted that workers should earn enough to maintain the basic living conditions necessary for them to remain motivated and capable of reporting to work.
“The moment you have that contract, you must ensure that their living conditions are at least able to support their motivation or their ability to get to work and back,” he said.
He used the cost of food to further illustrate why he considers ₦70,000 inadequate.
“If you eat three times a day, and you are eating ₦500 food, you eat ₦1,500. When you go to work or not, you will eat,” he said.
“Multiply ₦1,500 by 30 days in a month. Are we not already past ₦70,000? Are you not going to transport yourself? Are you not going to wash your clothes?”
According to Sowore, a worker’s income must also account for transportation, accommodation, clothing and other basic necessities.
“That is the argument. It’s very simple,” he said.
“If the problem is that the cost, we may have issues with not being able to pay, we just redistribute costs. We reduce our pocket,” he added.
Sowore’s proposed ₦500,000 minimum wage forms part of his broader argument that Nigeria must reduce the cost of governance and production while improving workers’ purchasing power.
He maintained that the debate should not focus solely on whether government can afford to pay ₦500,000, but on whether the proposed amount would actually allow an average worker to live with dignity in an economy where the prices of food, transportation, electricity, accommodation and other necessities continue to rise.
He argued that keeping wages low does not solve inflation when the underlying cost of production remains high, insisting that government must instead address the structural factors driving the cost of goods and services.
Sowore ultimately maintained that Nigerian workers deserve wages that enable them to eat, travel to work, afford basic necessities and maintain a decent standard of living, while government should reduce waste and bring down the cost of running the economy.