Lagos announces N85,000 minimum wage

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has announced a new minimum wage of N85,000 for state workers, the highest in Nigeria to date.

The figure exceeds the federal government’s recently approved N70,000 minimum wage, which was signed into law by President Bola Tinubu in July after lengthy negotiations with labour unions.

Mr Sanwo-Olu made the announcement on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today. He said Lagos’ decision to pay N85,000 was not a move to outdo other states but rather a reflection of the state’s financial capacity and the higher cost of living in Lagos.

“It’s not a competition. We are paying this because we can afford it and because we know the cost of living in Lagos is higher than in many other parts of the country,” Mr Sanwo-Olu said. The governor said Lagos had already increased workers’ salaries earlier in the year.

Mr Sanwo-Olu hinted at more wage increase in the near future.

“I would like to come back in January 2025 and say we’ve raised the minimum wage to N100,000. Not because we want to make anyone look bad, but because we want our people to know the government is working for them,” he said.

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Lagos’ decision to raise the minimum wage comes at a time when Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, marked by skyrocketing inflation and an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis. Since the federal government’s announcement of the N70,000 minimum wage in July, fuel prices have more than doubled, rising from N617 per litre to over N1,000.

Edo State was the first to announce a N70,000 minimum wage, even before the federal government. However, many oil-rich states in the Niger Delta, despite their wealth from oil revenues, have yet to make any commitments or offers regarding an increased minimum wage.

Lagos is known for its high tax revenues.