‘Wicked people’ – Sowore faults Sanwo-Olu’s N85,000 minimum wage, gives reason

Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the last general elections, has faulted the N85,000 minimum wage announced for Lagos civil servants by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of the state.

Sowore called Nigerian leaders “wicked people,” contending that a larger percentage of the N85,000 will be spent on transport.

Speaking on Channels Television on Wednesday, Sanwo-Olu disclosed that he will be paying N85,000 as minimum wage for Lagos workers.

This is N15,000 higher than the N70,000 minimum wage bill signed into law by President Bola Tinubu in July.

“I am glad to let you know that the minimum wage for Lagos which we conversed and discussed with our union is N85,000 today,” the governor said.

Read also: Lagos pays N85,000 as minimum wage, targets N100,000 — Sanwo-Olu

Reacting to the development, Sowore juxtaposed the N85,000 with the fare of the newly launched Lagos Red Line rail, which cost N1,500 per trip from Agbado to Oyingbo. He posited that a minimum wage earner will spend N15,000 boarding the train to work weekly and N60,000 in a month.

“Yesterday the Lagos state Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu launched a Redline train with fanfare, it costs N1,500 per trip, N15k per week, N60k monthly, also he launched Lagos’s minimum wage at N85k per month. If workers take the redline to work, THEN!?,” the activist said in a post on his X on Thursday.

BusinessDay had reported that mixed reactions trailed the commencement of commercial operations of the Red Line over fare of the 27-kilometer rail.

Read also: ‘Too expensive’: Lagosians react as LASG releases Red Line rail fares

According to prices the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority rolled out on Monday, Agege to Ikeja costs N500 on the train.

Other prices are: Agbado-Iju to Agege (N500), Agege to Oshodi (N1,000), Agege to Mushin (N1,000), Agege – Yaba (N1,000), Agege – Oyingbo (N1,000); Ikeja – Oshodi (N500), Oshodi – Mushin (N500), Mushin – Yaba (N500), Yaba – Oyingbo (N500), and Agbado – Oyingbo (N1,500).