The organised labour in Nigeria has joined forces with civil servants demanding for a new minimum wage of N500,000 and reduction of petrol price to N500 per litre to address the worsening economic hardship facing workers and their dependents.

Acting under the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), made up of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and civil servants, as one Trade Union Side (TUS), made a formal request to the Federal Government.

In a letter to President Bola Tinubu, the National Secretary of JNPSNC (Trade Union Side), Olowoyo Gbenga, disclosed that workers were also demanding the immediate constitution of a committee to negotiate a new national minimum wage, ahead of January 2027.

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The NLC insists that their position is realistic and legitimate.

According to the workers, 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 government till Wednesday, September 30, 2026, to take action on their demands, warning that the prevailing hardship is creating palpable tension among workers and Nigerians.

The JNPSNC, which includes Nigerian Civil Service Union (NCSU); Medical and Health Workers Union (MHWU); Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN); National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNW); among others, said the removal of fuel subsidy three years ago had triggered an astronomical increase in fuel prices which triggered multiplier effects on the prices of essential commodities in the economy.

Other unions in the council are Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations (AUPC); Civil Service Technical and Recreational Employees, AUPCTRE; Nigeria Union of Public Service, Reportorial, Secretarial, Data Processors and Allied Workers, NUPSRAW; National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Workers, NUPPPPROW; and National Union of Agriculture and Allied Employees, NUAEE.

The council said the situation has made life increasingly unbearable for workers, adding that the provision of food palliatives is not a sustainable solution to the economic crisis.

It said: “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 workers argued that a more sustainable intervention would be to reduce the cost of fuel to N500 per litre, saying the measure will have a multiplier effect on the economy.

“Consequent upon the above, it is preferable that the Federal Government provides an intervention that will trickle down to all Nigerians by making fuel available at an affordable amount, as low as N500 (five hundred Naira),” 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.

‘Govt must look inward on fuel price’

On fuel prices, the workers said government should “look inward and stabilise the prices of fuel to an affordable minimum,” arguing that fuel remains 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.

It 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 also said 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 the NLC 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: “As a nation, and as a people endowed with enormous fossil resources, we are deserving of a certain level of protection or buffer against the gales from the Gulf, and indeed, other gales.”

According to the NLC position cited by the council, “As part of the process of creating this buffer government should sell sufficient crude in Naira to our local refineries; expand our national storage capacity in pursuance of meeting energy emergencies and security. These measures will create jobs, economic value as well as deal with mutating security challenges.”

The statement further said: “There is nothing wrong with government subsidizing the needs of citizens, especially in emergency situations like this. At the moment, there is no oil-producing country we know of that has not intervened or come up with sustainable palliatives in one way or the other in these perilous times.”

The NLC position also stated: “Government is making extra money in the international spot market (of between USD35 and 40 per barrel above the budgeted figure). This translates to trillions of Naira a month.

“On a long term basis, we are equally concerned that local refineries are importing crude. This is unreasonable and unacceptable and defeats the logic and purpose of local capacity.”

On wages, the council demanded immediate introduction of a wage award covering federal, state and local government workers.

“Wage award as an urgent intervention and upward review of salaries and allowances of all serving public servants in the Nigerian public service should be provided with immediate effect to cut across all federal, state and local government workers,” it said.

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, MDAs, while urging that the review be encouraged at the state and local government levels.

The JNPSNC urged the president to direct the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, NSIWC, to commence discussions with the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC; Trade Union Congress of Nigeria TUC; JNPSNC; and other relevant stakeholders on the wage award and upward review of salaries and allowances.

Former Kano State Governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) vice-presidential candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has said an NDC government would bring back fuel subsidy if elected in the 2027 general elections.

Kwankwaso made the declaration during an exclusive interview with ARISE Correspondent, Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie.

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The former governor said the subsidy would not necessarily return in the same form as the previous system, stressing that the NDC would adopt its own approach to reduce the cost of petrol for Nigerians.

“We’ll bring back subsidy in our own way,” Kwankwaso said.

He added that the party would do “whatever it takes” to bring down the price of fuel.

Kwankwaso also criticised President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove the petrol subsidy at the beginning of his administration, describing the policy and its consequences as having left Nigeria in a “total mess, economically.”

Tinubu announced the removal of the petrol subsidy during his inauguration on May 29, 2023, triggering a major shift in petrol pricing and subsequent increases in the cost of transportation, goods and services.

The policy has remained a major subject of political and economic debate, with the Federal Government maintaining that subsidy removal was necessary to reduce the financial burden on the country, while critics have argued that it has worsened economic hardship.

Kwankwaso, who is running alongside former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi on the NDC ticket, said bringing down fuel prices would be a priority under an NDC administration.

The former Kano governor also took a swipe at former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar while discussing Nigeria’s refineries.
According to Kwankwaso, “Atiku would sell our refineries to his friends.”

His comments come as political parties and presidential contenders begin to intensify their positioning ahead of the 2027 elections, with economic hardship, fuel prices, subsidy policy and the future of Nigeria’s refineries expected to remain major campaign issues.

Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke has felicitated with the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on the auspicious occasion of her 66th birthday, celebrating her as a remarkable example of devotion to nation building.

According to a government house statement in Osogbo on Monday, Gov Adeleke notes with reverence Senator Tinubu’s refreshing history of outstanding service and contributions to public good, praising her as a distinct voice in the advocacy for inclusive governance and a visible hand in the quest to build a country that serves all.

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He hails the first lady for the frontline roles she played in shaping legislations that empowers women and expanded opportunities for young people as a senator and currently in her role as the Mother of the Nation, recalling with nostalgia the partnership he enjoyed from Senator Tinubu while in the Senate.

“I join family, friends and well-wishers to celebrate a symbol of excellence, the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Her Excellency Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on the joyous occasion of her 66th birthday. Senator Tinubu was a lawmaker per excellence, using legislation to address past failings and setting the pathway for a prosperous future for both the nation and its people” Gov Adeleke noted.

“As the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Tinubu has proven to be the mother of all, galvanising interests irrespective of the political divide towards the ultimate purpose of moving Nigeria forward. As a Senator, she was truly pan-Nigerian and as a First Lady, she is an excellent nation builder.

“As she turns 66 today, I honour her life of incredible service and contributions, and more importantly, praise her for sharing in the burden of serving Nigerians with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and charting the course for Nigeria that will serve all.”

Gov Adeleke prays to Almighty God to bless the first lady with more rewarding years in good health and sound mind while she continues to stay by the side of our beloved President Tinubu, offering the needed strength in his enviable pursuit of a prosperous Nigeria.