Senator representing Borno South senatorial district in the National Assembly, Ali Ndume has continued his critic on the Bola Tinubu-led government.
Ndume, who was recently unseated as the Chief Whip of NigerianSenate, after attacking the president, opposed the newly approved N70,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers, saying that it is insufficient to sustain a household.
Ndume, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), stated that the new minimum wage, approved by President Tinubu, is only enough to buy a 50kg bag of rice.
In a video posted by Channels Television on Friday, Ndume said: “People are suffering, people are angry, people are not happy.
“I am happy that yesterday, the president agreed with NLC to increase the salary to N70,000, which is a good move, but it takes more than that because, realistically, that is like a bag of rice, money that will buy a bag of rice or cover the cost of a bag of rice.”
He advised the president to further review the new minimum wage to better align with the economic realities of the country.
The senator’s comments follow a meeting between President Tinubu and the leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), where the new minimum wage was agreed upon.
Initially, the government proposed N62,000, but later revised it to N70,000, while the labour leaders reduced their demand from N250,000.
Despite the agreed increase, Ndume argued that the new wage does not address the broader economic challenges faced by Nigerians.