African Action Congress presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has promised to introduce a N500,000 monthly living minimum wage for Nigerian workers if elected president in the 2027 general elections.
Sowore, who is also the publisher of Sahara Reporters, made the pledge in an interview with Independent published on Sunday while outlining the AAC’s agenda for the election.
The activist said his administration would also provide 24-hour electricity, make education free and accessible at all levels, construct one million public mixed-income homes and reform tenancy laws to reduce the burden of advance rent payments.
Sowore said the AAC’s programme was based on what he described as “revolutionary justice and equal rights”, arguing that Nigeria’s wealth had not translated into improved living standards for the majority of citizens.
“We are proposing a ₦500,000 monthly living minimum wage because Nigerian workers cannot continue receiving starvation wages,” he said.
He said his administration would deliver 24-hour electricity because no serious industrial economy could continue to rely heavily on generators.
On education, Sowore promised free and accessible education at all levels, saying no Nigerian child should be denied schooling because of poverty.
He also pledged to construct one million public mixed-income homes and reform tenancy laws so that workers would not be forced to pay one or two years’ rent in advance.
The AAC candidate said healthcare would become a right rather than a privilege, while his administration would industrialise the country, expand agricultural production and processing, rebuild infrastructure and create what he described as dignified employment.
Sowore also promised reforms in the security sector, including improved welfare for security personnel and the deployment of drones and advanced intelligence systems to combat insecurity.
He vowed to pursue an uncompromising anti-corruption campaign and recover public resources allegedly stolen by political officeholders.
Sowore attacks Tinubu’s economic policies
Sowore criticised the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying an AAC government would reverse what he described as the philosophy behind the current policies.
He said his government would measure the success of its economic policies by their effect on the material conditions of Nigerians.
The activist also argued that Nigerians were increasingly ready for a leftist government, saying decades of capitalist governments had failed to adequately tackle inequality and poverty.
“Our socialism is practical,” he said, explaining that his proposed approach would prioritise universal education, healthcare, decent housing, electricity, living wages and social protection.
Sowore said the AAC would finance its campaign through what he called a “people funded campaign”, rather than depending on wealthy individuals or political patrons.
He said the party’s grassroots structures would cover wards, polling units, communities, campuses, markets and workplaces.
On security during the 2027 campaign, Sowore said he would demand professionalism from security agencies and insist on his constitutional rights.
“I have never asked Nigeria’s security agencies for favours. I demand professionalism,” he said.
Sowore emerged as the AAC’s presidential candidate through a consensus arrangement.
Despite recording relatively low votes in his 2019 and 2023 presidential contests, he said the party’s chances in the 2027 election had “never been better”, citing its independence from political godfathers, governors and wealthy patrons.
He is among the presidential candidates listed for the 2027 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
