By Onu Okorie

Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has intensified his criticism of the Federal Government’s economic policies, declaring that the N70,000 minimum wage has failed to protect Nigerian workers from the rising cost of living.
Atiku, in a statement issued on Sunday by his Director of Strategic Communications, Phrank Shaibu, backed organised labour’s demand for a substantial increase in workers’ pay, arguing that the nominal rise in the minimum wage has been overwhelmed by increases in fuel, transportation, food and housing costs.
His intervention comes amid renewed pressure on household incomes as petrol prices climb to around N1,400 per litre in parts of the country. Reuters reported last week that petrol had reached about N1,400 per litre in Lagos and Abuja, with prices as high as N1,500 in parts of northern Nigeria.
Atiku’s central argument was that the headline increase from N30,000 to N70,000 has not translated into a corresponding improvement in workers’ purchasing power.
Using N1,400 per litre as the reference price, he said the entire N70,000 minimum wage would purchase only 50 litres of petrol.
By comparison, Atiku said, N30,000 at the April 2023 national average petrol price of N254.06 per litre could purchase about 118 litres.
“The payslip has grown, but the fuel it can buy has more than halved,” Atiku said, arguing that workers had received a larger nominal wage while facing a smaller purchasing capacity.
He accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of removing the petrol subsidy before putting sufficient measures in place to cushion the impact on working families.
“The government pulled away the floor, offered workers a flimsy umbrella and now applauds itself while the rain beats down on them,” he said.
According to Atiku, the consequences of higher petrol prices extend beyond motorists, because increased energy and transport costs feed into the prices of food and other essential goods.
“Petrol does not stay at the pump,” he said, arguing that higher fuel costs eventually affect farmers, manufacturers, transport operators and households.
The former vice-president also compared Nigeria’s minimum wage with those of selected African oil-producing economies. He said that, using exchange rates as of July 24, 2026, the minimum wages in Libya, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon translated to approximately N213,000, N245,000, N302,000 and N351,000 respectively.
He acknowledged that wage structures, exchange rates and living costs differ across countries, but maintained that those differences did not make N70,000 sufficient for Nigerian workers facing current prices.
Atiku’s comments come as the minimum wage and the broader cost of living remain politically sensitive issues ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general election. Recent reporting has also highlighted renewed pressure on households from rising petrol prices and transport costs.
He challenged President Tinubu to agree to what he described as a substantial wage increase reflecting the cost of food, transport, rent and electricity.
“If he has no intention of raising workers’ pay, he should say so plainly and stop stringing the Nigeria Labour Congress and other labour leaders along,” Atiku said.
He also presented the wage dispute as part of a broader economic argument, saying that higher salaries alone would not solve the crisis unless accompanied by measures to reduce the cost of essential goods and energy.
Atiku said that, if elected in 2027, his administration would combine wage adjustments with measures aimed at increasing domestic production, reducing energy costs and providing targeted support to vulnerable households.
He proposed a targeted production subsidy for petroleum products refined in Nigeria and sold domestically, subject to a spending cap, public accounting and independent auditing.
According to him, such support should translate into measurable reductions in pump prices rather than simply increase government expenditure.
“Nigerians do not eat FAAC figures. A full treasury is no answer to an empty kitchen,” he said.
The ADC candidate said his proposed approach would combine “realistic wage adjustments, targeted social protection and measures to stabilise the cost of essential goods and energy.”
Atiku’s intervention effectively shifts the wage debate from the size of workers’ pay packets to what those wages can actually purchase — a distinction likely to remain central to the political and economic debate as labour presses for improved pay and households continue to grapple with elevated living costs.
This version makes purchasing-power erosion the news hook and keeps Atiku’s 2027 promises and attacks in the appropriate attributed context.