N70,000 Minimum Wage Buys Just 50 Litres of Petrol as Fuel Prices Climb

Nigeria's N70,000 national minimum wage is under fresh scrutiny as petrol prices race towards N1,500 per litre, eating deeper into workers' incomes and pushing up the cost of transport, food and other essentials.

The arithmetic is stark. At a pump price of N1,400 per litre, a worker who devoted an entire N70,000 monthly minimum wage to petrol could buy just 50 litres. Buying only 10 litres would cost N14,000, equal to 20 per cent of the monthly wage, and leave N56,000 for food, transportation, rent, electricity, healthcare and other expenses.

Filling a tank costs a month's salary

Filling a 50-litre vehicle tank at N1,400 per litre would swallow the entire monthly earnings of a minimum-wage worker. Even workers who do not own cars are exposed, because higher petrol prices feed into commercial transport fares and the cost of moving food and other goods.

Petrol prices have risen sharply following increases in international crude oil prices and costs across the domestic petroleum supply chain. MRS raised its petrol price in Lagos and surrounding areas to N1,400 per litre from N1,300, while NNPC filling stations moved to N1,375 from N1,275. Some independent marketers were also selling at about N1,400 per litre.

The picture is not uniform across the country. A weekly market review by Petroleumprice.ng showed petrol prices declined in Warri, Port Harcourt and Calabar, with depot rates falling to as low as N1,330 per litre, while Lagos remained relatively firm at around N1,350 per litre.

Keyamo admits the wage is inadequate

The pressure on household finances has now been acknowledged inside the Federal Government. Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, said the N70,000 national minimum wage was inadequate to withstand the economic pressures confronting workers.

Speaking at the 2026 National Pre-Retirement Summit, Keyamo said rising living costs had weakened workers' purchasing power and called for improved wages. The minimum wage was raised from N30,000 to N70,000 in 2024.

NLC pushes for inflation-linked wages

The Nigeria Labour Congress wants the government to use additional revenues tied to higher global oil prices to provide relief to workers. NLC President Joe Ajaero said Nigeria, as an oil-producing country, could benefit from higher crude prices even as citizens face higher petrol and transportation costs.

Ajaero called for intervention measures and argued that minimum-wage negotiations should consider inflation, food and fuel costs rather than focus solely on the nominal salary figure. The NLC has also advocated linking wages and pensions more closely to inflation or the cost of living, so that sharp price increases do not quickly wipe out workers' purchasing power.

Pressure for another wage adjustment is already building. Civil servants under the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council recently demanded a reduction in petrol prices, a wage award and the commencement of negotiations for a new national minimum wage.

For the Nigerian worker on N70,000 a month, the fuel pump remains the clearest measure of what that salary is worth today.