Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, on Wednesday insisted he will pay N100,000 as minimum wage if elected Nigeria’s president on February 16.
The 47-year-old made the pledge at a town hall meeting tagged The Candidates organised by the MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with NTA and DARIA media in Abuja.
Mr Sowore said that his administration would address the menace of ghost workers by installing technologies that would daily capture fingerprints of workers and the hours spent at work.
He also said that he would ensure leakages were effectively blocked and would enthrone proper management of resources in the country if elected.
The AAC presidential candidate said that his administration would ensure efficient collection of taxes, and that there would be no sacred cows.
According to him, most companies in Nigeria collect tax from workers but do not remit to the government, while others are under remitting.
Sowore also vowed to cut the jumbo pay of the National Assembly members.
“The issue of some people earning minimum wage and others earning maximum wage where a senator earns N14 million monthly is unacceptable.
“Do you know that it will take a Nigerian worker earning N30, 000 monthly about 38 years to earn what a senator is earning per month?” he queried.
Sowore, who described the trend as disheartening, said “our problem in Nigeria is not wealth generation but wealth distribution.
“We will not allow illegality in National Assembly.”
He said his government would not only invest in the education of the young people but provide 5 million jobs for the youth.
