The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, JNPSNC, has identified insincerity in the implementation of agreements by all tiers of government as the major cause of perennial industrial crises in Nigeria’s public service.
This formed a key resolution in a 15-paragraph communique issued at the end of a two-day Retreat/Workshop and National Executive Council, NEC, meeting held June 17-18, 2026 at the Oasis Conference and Event Centre, Osogbo, Osun State.
The event, themed “CONSOLIDATING SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND INDUSTRIAL PEACE FOR ECONOMIC PROSPERITY”, was signed by the National Chairman, Comrade Benjamin Anto Uyanto mni, and National Secretary, Comrade Olowoyo Gbenga.
JNPSNC expressed regret that governments at all levels had made it a habit to abandon agreements duly signed by officials with the mandate to enter into Memoranda of Understanding.
The meeting after exhaustive deliberations on this specific flaw, hereby advocated for sincerity on the part of government in the implementation of agreement after collective bargaining engagement.
JNPSNC observed that “it has become a stock in trade of both Federal and State governments to abandon memorandum of understanding agreed to after negotiation which always divest into mistrust and suspicion.”
It noted that government often forced organized labour to declare trade disputes before officials deployed a “fire brigade approach at the eleventh hour of the workers’ agitations.”
The council cautioned state governments not to backtrack on domesticated versions of the Contributory Pension Scheme that exempted workers with fewer years in service.
“Any attempt to lump all the workers that have shorter years in the service will spell doom during their retirements, hence, it is advisable to such state governments to think deeply to avoid backlash and industrial unrest,”_ the communique warned.
Other resolutions are that JNPSNC concurred with NLC/TUC’s call for discussion on the review of the new National Minimum Wage to commence July 2026, ahead of its 2027 statutory deadline.
The council urged Federal and state governments to approve and implement 400% of the current N70,000 minimum wage to address workers’ economic hardship.
