Civil servants under the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), Trade Union Side, have given President Bola Ahmed Tinubu until September 30, 2026, to respond to a series of demands aimed at easing the economic pressure on workers and their families.
The workers want the Federal Government to bring down and stabilise the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, at N500 per litre.
They are also demanding an immediate Wage Award for public servants, an upward review of salaries and allowances, and the commencement of negotiations for a new National Minimum Wage ahead of January 2027.
Politics Nigeria gathered that the demands were contained in a letter addressed to President Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.
The JNPSNC said the recent increase in petrol prices, which it put at N1,430 per litre and above in some locations, had placed additional pressure on workers already struggling with rising prices of food, transportation, housing, healthcare and other basic needs.
The council warned that the situation was creating tension among workers and Nigerians generally.
It therefore asked the President to take action on the demands before Wednesday, September 30.
Workers Reject Food Palliatives
The civil servants also criticised the continued use of food items as a response to the economic hardship.
According to the council, distributing items such as rice, noodles, vegetable oil and garri could not address the wider economic problems facing workers and households.
The JNPSNC 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 reduction in petrol prices would have a broader impact because transportation and the cost of moving goods are closely connected to fuel prices.
They said the government should consider an intervention that would benefit workers and other Nigerians rather than relying mainly on food distributions.
“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 council further asked the government to establish a fuel intervention fund that could be used to support stakeholders in the petroleum sector and reduce the pressure on pump prices.
It said such an arrangement should eventually bring the price of petrol down to N500 per litre.
The JNPSNC said the government could give the proposed intervention another name if it did not want to describe 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,” the council said.
Civil Servants Back NLC Position on Fuel Crisis
The civil servants also expressed support for positions previously attributed to the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on how to address the country’s fuel situation.
The JNPSNC specifically endorsed the NLC position that Nigeria should make greater use of its crude oil resources and expand domestic refining capacity.
NLC President Joe 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.”
Ajaero 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 position further called for the government to make crude available to local refineries in naira and increase the country’s storage capacity.
“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 NLC position stated.
The workers also backed the argument that government intervention could be justified during periods of serious economic pressure.
“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 position stated.
The JNPSNC said it “wholeheartedly subscribe[s] to the submission of NLC leadership” and urged the Federal Government to consider the proposals.
Demand Immediate Wage Award
Beyond the fuel price, the workers are seeking immediate financial relief through a Wage Award.
They want the measure to cover 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,” the council said.
The JNPSNC argued that workers’ earnings had lost substantial purchasing power as the cost of basic goods and services continued to rise.
It called for salaries and allowances to be reviewed to reflect prevailing economic conditions.
The council also wants the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) to begin discussions with the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), JNPSNC and other stakeholders on the proposed Wage Award and salary review.
Workers Demand N500,000 Minimum Salary
The council is also looking beyond immediate relief.
It wants the Federal Government to begin negotiations for a new National Minimum Wage that would take effect from January 2027.
The workers called for an immediate committee to be established for the negotiations, arguing that starting the process early would prevent delays in implementation.
“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.
Under its proposed 2027 salary structure, the JNPSNC wants an officer on Grade Level 01, Step 1, to receive a minimum monthly salary of N500,000.
The council also called for harmonised wages across Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
It wants salary reviews to be encouraged at the state and local government levels.
It further proposed periodic adjustments to salaries and allowances based on inflation.
Other welfare measures requested by the workers include subsidised transportation and affordable housing for public servants.
Moreover, The JNPSNC said public servants play a central role in the running of government and the delivery of essential services.
It described workers as “the backbone of governance and national development” and the “live wire of any administration.”
According to the council, workers are involved in policy formulation, implementation of government programmes and delivery of public services across the country.
It said the rising cost of living was now affecting workers’ ability to meet basic obligations.
“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 council therefore urged the Tinubu administration to act before the September 30 deadline.
It also expressed hope that the President would address the concerns during his forthcoming Independence Day broadcast.
The workers said: “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 added: “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.”
