ABUJA, NIGERIA — Civil servants under the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, Trade Union Side, have written to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, demanding an urgent intervention to address the worsening economic hardship facing workers and their dependants.
The workers called on the Federal Government to stabilise the price of Premium Motor Spirit at N500 per litre, approve an immediate Wage Award, and upwardly review salaries and allowances across the public service. They also demanded the immediate constitution of a committee to negotiate a new National Minimum Wage ahead of January 2027.
In a letter addressed to the President at the State House, Abuja, the workers said the recent increase in fuel prices to N1,430 per litre and above in some locations had further worsened the cost-of-living crisis. They gave the Federal Government until Wednesday, September 30, 2026, to take action on their demands, warning that the prevailing hardship was creating palpable tension among workers and Nigerians.
The JNPSNC said the removal of fuel subsidy three years ago had triggered an astronomical increase in fuel prices and produced multiplier effects on the prices of essential commodities across the economy. The council said the situation had made life increasingly unbearable for workers, adding that the provision of food palliatives was not a sustainable solution to the economic crisis.
“It has dawned on Nigerian workers that the provision of palliatives such as bags of rice, Indomie, vegetable oil, garri, among other edible foods, is as good as weaponising Nigerians with poverty because it is a Pyrrhic intervention which is unsustainable, inaccessible to the majority of Nigeria’s population and also limited to political cronies,” the council stated.
The workers argued that a more sustainable intervention would be to reduce the cost of fuel to N500 per litre, saying the measure would have a multiplier effect across the economy. “Consequent upon the above, it is preferable that the Federal Government should provide an intervention that will trickle down to all Nigerians by making fuel available at an affordable amount as low as N500, the amount at which fuel was being sold when the subsidy was first removed in the year 2023,” they said.
The council identified the restoration of workers’ purchasing power, improved productivity and service delivery, promotion of integrity and accountability, and the reinforcement of trust and industrial peace as major reasons for its demand for improved remuneration.
On fuel prices, the workers said the government should “look inward and stabilize the prices of fuel to an affordable minimum,” arguing that fuel remained an essential commodity with significant implications for the Nigerian economy. “As a matter of reality, the current hardship being faced by the hapless Nigerian workers is caused by the astronomical increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit to as much as N1,430.00, or more per one litre (this is a killing amount),” the council stated.
The JNPSNC further called for an intervention fund for stakeholders in the oil sector to stabilise fuel prices and eventually bring the pump price down to N500 per litre. The council said the government could adopt another description for the intervention if the term “fuel subsidy” was considered unacceptable.
“The fuel intervention fund will give the opportunity to every Nigerian to benefit from the intervention fund because it will have multiplier effect in the life of every Nigerian and will naturally trickle down to the downtrodden and all the remotest parts of the country,” it said.
The council also endorsed a position attributed to Nigeria Labour Congress President, Joe Ajaero, on measures to address the fuel crisis. Ajaero was quoted as saying that Nigeria, as an oil-producing country, has sufficient local refining capacity even as this substantially resides with the private sector. He also said the nation deserved a certain level of protection or buffer against external shocks, and that government should sell sufficient crude in naira to local refineries and expand national storage capacity.
The NLC position also stated that government was making extra money in the international spot market of between $35 and $40 per barrel above the budgeted figure, translating to trillions of naira a month. It added that on a long-term basis, it was concerned that local refineries were importing crude, describing it as unreasonable and unacceptable.
The JNPSNC said it wholeheartedly subscribed to the submission of the NLC leadership and urged the government to consider the proposals for urgent implementation.
On wages, the council demanded the immediate introduction of a Wage Award covering federal, state, and local government workers. It said the Wage Award should serve as a precursor to the substantive New National Minimum Wage expected to take effect in January 2027. The workers also demanded the immediate setting up of a committee to negotiate the new National Minimum Wage, saying early commencement of the process would prevent delays in implementation.
The JNPSNC proposed that the minimum salary payable to an officer on Grade Level 01, Step 1, should be N500,000 per month under the 2027 salary template. The council also called for harmonised wages across ministries, departments, and agencies, while urging that the review be encouraged at the state and local government levels. It further demanded periodic salary and allowance adjustments linked to inflation, as well as welfare measures including subsidised transportation and affordable housing for civil servants.
The council said public servants remained “the backbone of governance and national development” and the “live wire of any administration,” noting that workers were responsible for policy formulation, implementation of government programmes, and the provision of essential public services. It said rising inflation, fuel prices, transportation costs, and the increasing cost of food, housing, healthcare, and education had eroded the real value of workers’ salaries.
“Many workers are now struggling to meet basic financial obligations, which has inevitably affected the morale, motivation, and overall productivity within the Public Service,” it stated.
The JNPSNC urged the President to direct the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission to commence discussions with the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, JNPSNC, and other relevant stakeholders on the Wage Award and upward review of salaries and allowances. The council expressed the expectation that the President’s Independence Day broadcast would address the concerns raised by workers.
