Civil servants to Tinubu: Cut petrol price to N500, or…
●Issue 9-day ultimatum
Barely nine days to Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary, Nigerian civil servants under the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), Trade Union Side, have asked President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene in the worsening economic hardship facing them and their dependants.
In a letter addressed to the president, the workers called on the federal government to stabilise the price of petrol at N500 per litre, approve an immediate Wage Award, and review upward salaries and allowances across the public service, according to Vanguard.
They also demanded the immediate constitution of a committee to negotiate a new National Minimum Wage ahead of January 2027.
The workers decried the recent increase in fuel prices to N1,430 per litre and above in some locations, saying this had further worsened the cost-of-living crisis. They gave the federal government until Wednesday, 30th September 2026, to respond to their demands, warning that the prevailing hardship was creating palpable tension among workers and Nigerians.
The JNPSNC said the removal of the fuel subsidy three years ago had triggered an astronomical increase in fuel prices, with multiplier effects on the prices of essential commodities across the economy. “It has dawned on Nigerian workers that the provision of palliatives such as bags of rice, Indomie, vegetable oil and 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 limited to political cronies,” the council said.
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. “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 2023,” they said.
The council cited restoration of workers’ purchasing power, improved productivity and service delivery, promotion of integrity and accountability, and reinforcement of trust and industrial peace as key reasons for its demand for improved remuneration.
On fuel prices, the workers urged the government to “look inward and stabilise the prices of fuel to an affordable minimum,” arguing that fuel remained an essential commodity with significant implications for the Nigerian economy. “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 or more per litre — this is a killing amount,” the council stated.
The JNPSNC also demanded 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 fuel intervention fund will give every Nigerian the opportunity to benefit, because it will have a multiplier effect on 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 (NLC) President Joe Ajaero on measures to address the fuel crisis. Ajaero was quoted as saying: “Nigeria, as an oil-producing country, has sufficient local refining capacity, even though this substantially resides with the private sector.” He added: “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, government should “sell sufficient crude in naira to our local refineries [and] expand our national storage capacity in pursuance of meeting energy emergencies and security,” as part of creating this buffer. It added that these measures would create jobs and economic value, and address mutating security challenges.
The statement further said: “There is nothing wrong with government subsidising 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 another, in these perilous times.”
The NLC position also noted: “Government is making extra money in the international spot market — between USD35 and USD40 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 “wholeheartedly subscribes to the submission of 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. “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.
According to the council, the Wage Award would 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 minimum wage, saying early commencement of the process would prevent delays in implementation. “There is urgent need to immediately set up a committee for the negotiation of the New National Minimum Wage, to accelerate its commencement before 2027, so that it can take effect from January 2027,” the council stated.
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 extended to 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 described public servants as “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 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 (NSIWC) to commence discussions with the NLC, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), the JNPSNC and other relevant stakeholders on the Wage Award and upward review of salaries and allowances.
“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 council said.
It also expressed the expectation that the president’s Independence Day broadcast would address the concerns raised by workers. “It is the high expectation 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.
