Paul Alaje, Chief Economist and Partner at SPM said that the federal government’s minimum wage review should be at least N100,000.
Alaje disclosed this during an interview with Channels Television on Thursday.
He said that Nigeria’s minimum wage had historically been reviewed five times, from N30,000 in 2018 to N125 in 1981.
He explained that for Nigerian workers to escape the poverty bracket, the minimum wage should be between $100 and $200.
He added that the government should look at the N130 and N250 minimum wage in 2024 due to the rising costs of transportation, energy, goods, imported goods, and foods in Nigeria.
“To escape the poverty bracket income term, the person must earn approximately between $100 to $200.
“The government should not look at minimum wage between 130,000 and 250,000.
“Because of the implication, our recommendation is nothing less than N100,000”, he stated.
Recall that the organized labour said it proposed N615,000 as the minimum wage pending the Nigerian Government’s counteroffer.
Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Government assured on the May Day celebration that workers’ minimum wage review is imminent.
The call for the review of minimum wage comes amid the soaring inflation in Nigeria, which stood at 33.22 per cent in March 2024 compared to 11.44 in December 2018.
Credit Gist New Today News in Newspaper Nigeria Headlines