According to Sowore’s analysis, based on the N85,000 minimum pay that the state government has authorised and the N1500 rail cost each journey, state workers and residents would spend N60,000 per month from the recently approved N85,000 minimum wage.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has come under fire from human rights activist and organiser of the #RevolutionNow Movement Omoyele Sowore for starting commercial activities on the state’s red line train that the majority of citizens, even public servants, would not be able to pay.

According to Sowore’s analysis, based on the N85,000 minimum pay that the state government has authorised and the N1500 rail cost each journey, state workers and residents would spend N60,000 per month from the recently approved N85,000 minimum wage.

From the agreed N85,000 minimum pay, travellers will spend N15,000 per week and N60,000 per month at N1,500 each journey, according to a detailed calculation.

The African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Sowore claimed, “Yesterday the Lagos state Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu launched a Redline train with fanfare; it costs N1,500 per trip, N15,000 per week, or N60,000 monthly,” in a post on his X account.

Additionally, he established the N85,000 monthly minimum salary in Lagos. When will employees use the redline to go to work?

The red line rail project, which President Bola Tinubu inaugurated on February 29, has begun commercial operations, according to a statement released by Governor Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday.

In a statement, the governor stated that the government will keep accelerating the timetable and that the train service is expected to carry around 500,000 Lagos residents every day along the corridor. The statement also stated that commercial operations will operate from Agbado to Oyingbo.

Additionally, the governor stated on Wednesday that his administration intends to pay employees a minimum salary of N85,000 in an interview titled “One-On-One with Babajide Sanwo-Olu” on Channels TV.

Sanwo-Olu stated that he would be happy to go on television in January 2025 to declare that his administration will even go so far as to establish a minimum salary of N100,000.