Civil servants under the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), Trade Union Side, have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to urgently address the growing economic hardship affecting workers.
In a letter to the President, the workers asked the Federal Government to reduce and stabilise petrol prices at N500 per litre, approve an immediate Wage Award, and increase salaries and allowances across the public service.
They also called for the immediate formation of a committee to negotiate a new National Minimum Wage ahead of January 2027.
The workers said the recent rise in petrol prices to N1,430 per litre and above in some areas had increased the cost-of-living crisis.
They gave the government until Wednesday, September 30, 2026, to respond to their demands, saying the worsening hardship was creating tension among workers and Nigerians.
The JNPSNC said the removal of fuel subsidy three years ago had caused a sharp rise in petrol prices and increased the cost of essential goods.
The workers said food palliatives were not a lasting solution, stating, “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,”
They said reducing petrol to N500 per litre would provide a more sustainable solution and benefit the wider economy.
