Civil servants under the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), Trade Union Side, have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently intervene in what they described as worsening economic hardship affecting workers and their dependants.
In a letter addressed to the President at the State House in Abuja, the workers demanded that the Federal Government stabilise the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at ₦500 per litre, introduce an immediate Wage Award and review salaries and allowances across the public service.
The council also called for the immediate establishment of a committee to begin negotiations for a new National Minimum Wage ahead of January 2027.
The workers said the increase in petrol prices to about ₦1,430 per litre or more in some locations had further increased the cost of living, affecting the ability of workers to afford basic necessities.
The JNPSNC gave the Federal Government until Wednesday, September 30, 2026, to respond to its demands, warning that the prevailing economic situation was creating tension among workers and Nigerians generally.
The council linked the increase in fuel prices to the removal of the petrol subsidy three years ago, saying the development had contributed to higher prices of essential goods and services across the economy.
It argued that food palliatives were not sufficient to address the underlying economic difficulties facing workers.
“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.”
According to the council, reducing petrol prices to ₦500 per litre would have wider economic effects by lowering transportation and production costs.
“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 (five hundred Naira), the amount at which fuel was being sold when the subsidy was first removed in the year 2023,” they said.
The workers said improved remuneration was necessary to restore purchasing power, increase productivity and strengthen accountability, integrity and industrial peace within the public service.
On fuel prices, the council urged the government to intervene directly and described petrol as an essential commodity with significant effects on the wider 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 (PMS) to as much as N1,430.00, or more per one litre (this is a killing amount),” the council stated.
The JNPSNC also proposed the establishment of an intervention fund for stakeholders in the oil sector to help stabilise petrol prices and eventually bring the pump price down to ₦500 per litre.
The council said the intervention could be given another name if the government was uncomfortable with describing it as a fuel subsidy.
“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 workers also supported proposals attributed to Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Joe Ajaero, on addressing the country’s fuel challenges.
Ajaero was quoted as saying: “Nigeria as an oil-producing country we have 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.”
The NLC position cited by the council called for the government to make crude oil available to local refineries in naira, increase national storage capacity and strengthen the country’s ability to respond to energy emergencies.
“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.”
It added: “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.”
The JNPSNC said it supported the NLC’s proposals and urged the Federal Government to consider them as part of its response to the fuel crisis.
On wages, the council requested an immediate Wage Award covering workers at the federal, state and local government levels.
“Wage Award as an urgent intervention and upward review of salaries and allowances of all serving Public Servants in the Nigeria Public Service should be provided with immediate effect to cut across all Federal, State and Local Government workers,” it said.
The council said the Wage Award should serve as an immediate measure while preparations are made for the new National Minimum Wage expected to take effect in January 2027.
It also called for an early start to negotiations to avoid delays in implementing the new wage structure.
“There is urgent need to immediately set up committee for the negotiation of New National Minimum Wage to accelerate the commencement of the New National Minimum Wage before 2027 so that it can take effect from January, 2027,” the council stated.
The JNPSNC proposed that the minimum salary for an officer on Grade Level 01, Step 1, should be ₦500,000 per month under the proposed 2027 salary structure.
The council further called for harmonised salaries across Ministries, Departments and Agencies, as well as salary reviews at the state and local government levels.
It also requested periodic adjustments to salaries and allowances based on inflation, alongside welfare measures such as subsidised transportation and affordable housing for public servants.
The workers described public servants as “the backbone of governance and national development” and the “live wire of any administration,” noting their role in implementing government policies and providing essential services.
The council said rising inflation, petrol prices, transportation costs and the cost of food, housing, healthcare and education had significantly reduced the purchasing power of workers.
“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 also urged the President to direct the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) to begin discussions with the NLC, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), JNPSNC and other relevant stakeholders on the proposed Wage Award and salary review.
The council asked the Federal Government to respond to its demands by September 30, saying prompt action could help ease the tension among workers.
“Your Excellency, we trust that this request will receive the prompt attention and action it deserves in the interest of Nigerian workers and their dependants, the Public Service as an age-long institution and the nation at large on or before Wednesday 30th September, 2026 to douse the palpable tension that may erupt.”
The workers also said they expected the President to address their concerns in his Independence Day broadcast.
“It is the high expectations of Nigerian workers and all patriotic Nigerians that your Independence Day broadcast will attend to our sincere suggestions in order to bring succour and life back to all dying Nigerians,” the council said.
