By - Eight public sector unions under the JNPSNC reaffirm their September 30 deadline for the Federal Government to cut petrol to N500 per litre or face a three-day warning strike from October 2
- Council also demands an immediate wage award and the constitution of a tripartite committee to begin negotiating a new national minimum wage ahead of 2027
- Unions say President Tinubu’s Independence Day address should directly address the demands, with pump prices currently ranging from N1,450 to as high as N2,500 in some areas
Public servants across Nigeria are on course for a nationwide warning strike starting October 2, after the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council held firm on a deadline it says the Federal Government has failed to meet.
The JNPSNC, an umbrella body representing eight public sector unions, first wrote to President Bola Tinubu on September 21 demanding that petrol prices be brought down to N500 per litre, that a wage award be announced immediately, and that talks begin on a new national minimum wage of not less than N500,000 starting from 2027. With the September 30 deadline now passed without government action, the council has issued a formal three-day warning strike notice beginning Thursday, October 2.
The unions making up the council include the Nigerian Civil Service Union, the Medical and Health Workers Union, the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, and the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, alongside the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Employees, the Nigeria Union of Public Service, Reportorial, Secretarial, Data Processors and Allied Workers, the National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Workers, and the National Union of Agriculture and Allied Employees.
Fuel Prices at the Center of the Dispute
In a statement issued Tuesday, JNPSNC National Secretary and Nigeria Civil Service Union General Secretary Gbenga Olowoyo laid out the council’s core grievance around the current cost of Premium Motor Spirit. He said pump prices ranging from N1,450 to N2,000, and reaching as high as N2,500 in some areas outside major cities, had become unacceptable to Nigerian workers, and called on the government to bring prices down to N500 through an intervention fund covering landing costs and support for oil and gas operators.
Olowoyo also pushed for crude oil sales to Dangote Refinery and modular refinery operators on terms that would boost domestic refining capacity, arguing this would help ease pump prices more sustainably than short-term subsidies. He framed the broader economic strain as a threat to the survival and dignity of workers, their dependants, and the wider Nigerian population.
Wage Award and Minimum Wage Talks
Beyond fuel pricing, the council is pressing for an immediate wage award to cushion the impact of current economic conditions, arguing that swift action on this front would help sustain workers’ commitment and productivity within the public service. It has also called for the urgent formation of a tripartite committee to begin negotiations on a new national minimum wage ahead of its expected 2027 implementation, saying early engagement is necessary to avoid procedural delays once a new wage figure is eventually passed into law.
A Deadline Tied to a Presidential Speech
The council specifically named President Tinubu’s Independence Day address as the moment it expects these concerns to be addressed, framing the timing as symbolically significant given the demands were tied to a September 30 deadline. Olowoyo’s statement warned that failure to act would provoke widespread displeasure among Nigerian workers, their dependants, and other vulnerable citizens already bearing the weight of the country’s economic hardship.
With the deadline now passed and no confirmed government response addressing the union’s three core demands, the planned warning strike is set to proceed from October 2, positioning the first week of the month as a flashpoint in the ongoing standoff between organised labour and the Tinubu administration over the cost of living.
