By Becky Usman

Primate Elijah Ayodele, the spiritual leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to raise the minimum wage for workers to N100,000.

In a statement released by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, on Thursday, the clergyman emphasized that increasing the minimum wage would serve as a buffer against the impact of subsidy removal, rather than implementing the proposed N8,000 palliatives for 12 million households.

Primate Ayodele expressed concern that the N8,000 palliatives would only lead to corruption and fail to reach the impoverished masses in need of assistance.

He highlighted the rampant corruption among politicians, stating that such palliatives would have minimal impact due to the prevalence of corrupt practices.

Ayodele argued that the proposed N8,000 palliatives would ultimately be a wasted effort, offering no tangible benefits to the majority of the population.

Instead, he proposed that if the government genuinely cares about the well-being of its citizens, the minimum wage should be increased to N100,000.

According to Ayodele, such an increase would significantly alleviate the effects of subsidy removal and inflation, directly benefiting the people.

“The N8,000 palliative is a symbol of corruption. I see no value in it, and it will not reach the impoverished masses. Despite the President’s approval, it will have no meaningful impact. The governors will divert it for their selfish purposes, and the underprivileged will not benefit from it at all,” Ayodele declared.

He concluded that the N8,000 palliative is futile, lacking efficacy and purpose, and urged the government to focus on implementing a substantial increase in the minimum wage to genuinely address the needs of the people.