The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), Trade Union Side, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently approve a fresh wage award, review salaries and allowances of public servants, and commence negotiations for a new national minimum wage ahead of January 2027.
The council made the demands in a letter addressed to the President and signed by its National Secretary, Comrade Olowoyo Gbenga.
The workers’ body said the recent increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which it put at as high as N1,430 per litre in some locations, had further worsened the economic hardship confronting workers and their dependants.
According to the council, the rising cost of fuel has triggered increases in transportation, food, housing, healthcare and other essential services, thereby eroding workers’ purchasing power.
The JNPSNC argued that the Federal Government should move beyond the distribution of food items as palliatives and adopt measures capable of providing sustainable relief to workers and other Nigerians.
It specifically called for an intervention mechanism to stabilise fuel prices and reduce the pump price to about N500 per litre, while backing proposals attributed to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on making crude oil available to local refineries in naira and expanding national petroleum storage capacity.
The council also demanded the immediate introduction of a wage award for workers across the federal, state and local government levels as an interim measure pending the negotiation of a new national minimum wage.
It further urged President Tinubu to immediately constitute a committee to commence negotiations for the 2027 national minimum wage, warning that any delay could affect the commencement date of its implementation.
The workers proposed that the new minimum salary for a public servant on Grade Level 01 Step 1 should be fixed at N500,000 monthly, describing the proposal as necessary to address the erosion of workers’ earnings by inflation.
The council also called for harmonised wages across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), with the proposal encouraged at state and local government levels.
It advocated periodic cost-of-living adjustments tied to inflation, as well as welfare measures including subsidised transportation and affordable housing for public servants.
The JNPSNC said improved remuneration would help restore workers’ purchasing power, boost productivity and service delivery, strengthen accountability and promote industrial peace.
It urged the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) to begin immediate discussions with the NLC, Trade Union Congress (TUC), JNPSNC and other stakeholders on the proposed wage award and salary review.
The council appealed to President Tinubu to act on the demands on or before September 30, 2026, saying this would help address what it described as growing tension among Nigerian workers.
It also expressed hope that the workers’ concerns would receive attention in the President’s Independence Day broadcast.
The letter was signed by Comrade Olowoyo Gbenga, National Secretary, JNPSNC, Trade Union Side.
