The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said that workers in the state will now receive a minimum wage of N85,000, which is N15,000 more than what the Federal Government approved in July.
President Bola Tinubu finally signed the new N70,000 minimum wage bill into law in July, after months of back-and-forth between the government, unions, and the private sector.
Sanwo-Olu, said the state isn’t paying N85,000 to show off, but because they can.
“I am glad to let you know that the minimum wage for Lagos which we conversed and discussed with our union is N85,000 today,” Sanwo-Olu said on the programme.
“It is not a competition, so I am not going to say we are paying more than some other people, it is a function of affordability and it is a function of capacity, but we know too well that when people live in Lagos, Lagos has a premium in terms of even the cost of living, we are fully aware.”
“We actually increased salaries earlier in the year and deserving so for our staff and we will continue to do that.
“I would like to come back to you in January to say I have been able to increase the minimum wage of Lagos to N100,000 not because I want to make anybody look bad, it is really because I want my people to have a living wage, I want them to really be able to know that government is working for them,” he said.
“The dream identity will be a Lagos that truly works for everyone, a Lagos where you can have predictable journey time.
“You can come out of your house or your office and be able to safely say that in 30 minutes, 35 minutes plus or minus 5 minutes, you can be able to get to a predictable destination.”
He’s working on making Lagos a business-friendly environment.