Politics
Sowore Demands ₦500,000 Minimum Wage For Nigerian Workers, Calls Current Rate an Insult to Human Dignity
Omoyele Sowore has never been a man who measures his demands against what the political establishment considers convenient, and his latest declaration is entirely consistent with that reputation. The activist, journalist, and African Action Congress leader has called for a ₦500,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers, a figure that sits dramatically above the current national minimum wage and that has, predictably, ignited a fierce debate about labour rights, economic realism, and the yawning gap between what Nigerian workers are paid and what it actually costs to survive in the country today. For Sowore, the number is not a negotiating position. It is a statement of principle about the value of human labour in a nation that has for too long treated its working class as an afterthought.
The context in which this demand lands is not incidental. It is everything. Nigeria is navigating one of the most bruising economic periods in its recent history, defined by fuel subsidy removal, a dramatically weakened naira, inflation that has compressed the purchasing power of ordinary workers to levels that were unimaginable just a few years ago, and a cost of living that has outpaced wages so comprehensively that millions of employed Nigerians are, by any honest assessment, living in poverty. The ₦70,000 minimum wage that was signed into law in 2024, celebrated at the time as a hard-won concession from the federal government, has already been overtaken by the economic realities it was meant to address, a cruel irony that labour unions, civil society, and workers themselves have not been slow to point out.
Sowore’s ₦500,000 figure will draw the familiar chorus of criticism from economists, government officials, and private sector representatives who will argue that such a wage floor is fiscally unsustainable, would trigger inflation, and is disconnected from the productive capacity of an economy still struggling to find its footing. These are arguments that deserve engagement, not dismissal. But Sowore and those who share his position would counter that the conversation about what is sustainable cannot be divorced from the conversation about who bears the cost of what is currently being sustained, and right now, the answer to that question is overwhelmingly the Nigerian worker, whose labour props up an economy whose gains flow disproportionately to those at the top of an already deeply unequal structure.
What Sowore is doing, whether one agrees with the specific figure or not, is forcing a recalibration of the baseline from which the minimum wage debate begins. When the starting point of the conversation is ₦70,000, the ceiling of ambition tends to stay embarrassingly low. By planting a flag at ₦500,000, he is insisting that the discussion take seriously what a living wage, not a survival wage, not a poverty-management wage, but a wage that allows a human being to live with dignity actually looks like in 2025 Nigeria. That reframing is itself a contribution to a conversation that the country urgently needs to have with greater honesty and greater urgency than it has managed so far.
For Nigerian workers grinding through twelve-hour days in markets, offices, factories, and farms for wages that do not cover their transport costs, let alone their rent, feeding, and school fees, Sowore’s demand will feel less like political theatre and more like the first time someone has said out loud what they have been feeling for years. Whether the political will exists to translate that feeling into policy is another matter entirely, but the demand is on the table, and it is not going away quietly.
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has appointed Bashorun Akinwale Akinwole, popularly known as Wolekanle, as his new Chief of Staff following the resignation of his predecessor, Segun Ogunwuyi.
The appointment was announced on Monday, October 12, 2026, in a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Musibau Babatunde. The new appointment takes immediate effect.
Akinwole previously served as chairman of the Oyo State Local Government Service Commission. He is a grassroots politician from Ogbomoso, the same hometown as Ogunwuyi.
Alongside the appointment, Makinde named Mrs Aderonke Adedayo as Director-General of the state’s Due Process Office. Adedayo, who currently serves as Special Adviser on General Intervention and Donor Agencies, will retain her existing position while taking on the additional responsibility.
The appointments followed Ogunwuyi’s resignation earlier on Monday. In his resignation letter, dated October 12, he said his decision took immediate effect and expressed gratitude to Makinde for the opportunity to serve the government and people of Oyo State.
Ogunwuyi, a former member of the Oyo State House of Assembly and the House of Representatives, did not publicly state any political disagreement as the reason for his resignation.
The departure comes amid the recent exits of several political appointees from the Makinde administration. However, no official reason linking Ogunwuyi’s resignation to the wider political developments has been established.
Governor Makinde congratulated the new appointees and urged them to discharge their responsibilities with loyalty, commitment and dedication to public service.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is scheduled to inaugurate the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The inauguration will take place at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, bringing together party leaders and other stakeholders to coordinate the ruling party’s campaign activities.
Former Zamfara State Governor, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, who serves as Director-General of the campaign council, disclosed the development on Friday after meeting with Tinubu at the Presidential Villa. He said the President had approved the proposed campaign timetable.
Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma is the council’s secretary, while former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Betta Edu, is expected to play a key role in its women mobilisation directorate.
The campaign council is expected to coordinate the APC’s preparations for Tinubu’s re-election bid, including grassroots mobilisation, communication and engagement with voters across the country.
According to Yari, the campaign is scheduled to begin with a rally in Kaduna on October 24, before moving to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and Maiduguri, Borno State.
Ahead of the formal inauguration, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu and members of the women mobilisation team have reportedly begun grassroots engagement across the country.
The team has set a target of mobilising 40 million women’s votes for the Tinubu-Shettima ticket through outreach across communities and polling-unit structures in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The October 14 event is expected to formally activate the campaign council’s operations as the APC begins preparations for the 2027 presidential election.
Nigeria’s National Register of Voters has surpassed 103 million ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed the latest figure on Monday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at a strategic workshop for media executives organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors in collaboration with the commission.
According to Amupitan, the increase followed the completion of the three-phase Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise and the final clean-up of the register using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS).
The three phases of the CVR exercise produced a combined 10,772,421 new registrations.
The first phase, conducted between August 25 and December 10, 2025, recorded 2,611,266 registrations. The second phase, held from January 5 to April 17, 2026, produced 4,121,835 registrations, while the third phase, conducted from May 11 to July 26, recorded 3,867,997 registrations.
Amupitan said the newly registered voters were subjected to biometric verification, while the commission also completed the public display of the Preliminary Register to allow citizens to raise claims and objections.
Following the final ABIS clean-up, INEC said the national voter register had moved beyond the 103 million mark.
PVC Collection to Begin October 9
The INEC chairman also announced that nationwide collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) will commence on Friday, October 9, 2026.
Newly produced PVCs are expected to be distributed to Local Government Area collection centres for eligible voters to collect.
The commission has also introduced printable PVC technology, which it says is designed to reduce the waiting period for voters who need new or replacement cards.
INEC said the technology was introduced in accordance with Section 18(1) of the Electoral Act 2026.
The commission has completed eight of the 14 major statutory activities on its timetable for the 2027 elections, according to Amupitan.
The latest voter register figure marks a significant increase from the 93,469,008 registered voters recorded for the 2023 general elections.
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