A video purportedly showing Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, announcing that the state government has increased minimum wage from N35,000 to N70,000 has gone viral.
The video has gone viral on social media especially X.
An X user, @_callmebekky, posted the video with a caption thus:
“Governor Sanwo-Olu has increase the minimum wage from 35,000 Naira to 70,000 Naira”
The post has generated over 200,000 views, with more than 400 reposts and over 1,500 likes as of April 27, 2024.
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Similarly, another X account, @NigeriaStories, amplified the post alongside the same video with another caption that read:
“JUST IN: Lagos state Governor Sanwo-Olu confirms he has increase the minimum wage from 35,000 Naira to 70,000 Naira for Lagos state workers”
The post has generated over 545,000 views, with more than 10,000 likes and over 2,200 reposts as of April 27, 2024.
CLAIM
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced minimum wage increment to N70,000 for Lagos workers in viral video.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING, as Babajide Sanwo-Olu was quoted out of context.
Checks showed that Sanwo-Olu’s speech which was made at the launching of Lagos State Social Intervention Programme tagged: “Eko Cares” has been taken out of context.
A review of the full video uploaded by TVC News on Thursday, April 25, 2024 shows that Sanwo-Olu did not increase minimum wage for the state workers; rather, it said the state had implemented the N35,000 minimum wage as directed by the federal government.
This means civil servants earning N35,000 before the implementation now earns around N70,000 and above.
His words: “I know that by the grace of God very very soon we’ll see a new minimum wage that will be approved by the Federal Government and by the state government. The civil servants and all public officers, they know that since January we have continued to pay the wage allowance of minimum of N35,000 over and above what they were earning before.
“People that were earning a minimum of N35,000 to N40,000 before, they are now earning over N70,000. So, it’s important for people to know and for us to lay this thing very clearly. This government has doubled up and has not left its citizens on their own…”.
In addition, the Lagos State Government in a statement by the state’s Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, clarified that the governor did not imply that the minimum wage for the state workers has increased to N70,000 in the viral video.
THE VERDICT
The claim that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced minimum wage increment to N70,000 for Lagos workers in the viral video is MISLEADING; he was quoted out of context.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
