Hardship Explosion: Civil Servants Down Tools Nationwide

Public sector workers across federal, state and local government levels will begin a three-day warning strike from midnight on Friday, October 2, over the Federal Government’s failure to address rising living costs and related demands.

The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), which represents eight public-sector unions, directed all employees in ministries, departments and agencies to join the action. The industrial action is scheduled to run until Sunday, October 4.

In a circular dated October 1 and signed by National Secretary Olowoyo Gbenga, the council instructed national and state leaders to mobilise members immediately. It stated that the strike follows the government’s failure to respond to a September 21 letter to President Bola Tinubu.

The circular emphasised that “an injury to one is an injury to all,” noting that workers, their dependants and vulnerable Nigerians are “groaning terribly under the present economic hardship.”

The unions had set a September 30 deadline, linking compliance to the President’s Independence Anniversary address on October 1. Union leaders expressed disappointment that the speech acknowledged citizens’ suffering but offered no concrete relief on their key requests.

Core demands
The JNPSNC is pressing for three main measures:

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An urgent cut in the pump price of petrol (Premium Motor Spirit) to ₦500 per litre. The council said current prices range from about ₦1,450 to ₦2,000 in major cities and reach as high as ₦2,500 in some remote locations. It proposed an intervention fund to address landing costs and better crude supply terms to the Dangote Refinery and modular refineries to boost domestic refining.

Immediate approval of a wage award to cushion the impact of inflation and high transport costs on public servants.

Prompt establishment of a tripartite committee to begin negotiations for a new national minimum wage, expected to take effect in 2027. The unions have called for a figure of not less than ₦500,000.

Member unions include the Nigerian Civil Service Union, Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Employees, and others covering technical, secretarial, printing and agricultural workers.

NLC support
The Nigeria Labour Congress has given the action tacit backing. In its Independence Day statement, NLC President Joe Ajaero highlighted how petrol prices of around ₦1,430 per litre (and higher in many places), combined with inflation, stagnant wages and insecurity, have eroded the real value of workers’ pay. He noted that transport costs drive up food prices, school fees, rent and other essentials.

The NLC also called for implementation of earlier tax relief measures agreed in 2023, greater transparency on subsidy savings, reduced cost of governance, and early negotiations for a new minimum wage to replace the existing ₦70,000 rate, which it says has been heavily eroded by inflation.

Union leaders described the current economic pressures as both financial and mental, saying many Nigerians can no longer live “normal and dignified lives.” The warning strike is intended to press the government for urgent intervention rather than as an indefinite shutdown.

Compliance is expected across all tiers of government, with potential disruption to public services over the weekend period.