Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
The Nigeria Labour Congress has accused the Federal Government of profiting from increased oil revenues triggered by the surge in global crude prices while Nigerian workers and ordinary citizens bear the brunt of record petrol prices, rising transportation costs and declining purchasing power, as a senior minister acknowledged that the current national minimum wage is no longer sufficient to shield workers from economic hardship.
The two positions emerged at the 2026 National Pre-Retirement Summit in Abuja on Wednesday, organised by XEM Consultants Limited, where NLC President Comrade Joe Ajaero and the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, separately addressed the worsening cost-of-living crisis that has dominated national discourse ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Ajaero said the rise in international oil prices, driven by conflict in the Middle East and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, had created what he described as a windfall for oil-producing countries, including Nigeria. He questioned why those gains could not be used to cushion citizens from the effects of the fuel-price shock. "As one of the oil-producing countries, they are making trillions because of the problem in the Strait of Hormuz. You can see that oil was pegged at maybe seventy dollars. It's a hundred dollars, so they are making an extra thirty or forty dollars," Ajaero said. "Now, can't you use this money to embark on some interventionary measures like other countries where this is affected, so that we'll now be alive till the time when they will say minimum wage?" The NLC president's remarks echoed a statement issued in September in which he said government intervention through subsidies or palliatives remained justified during emergencies, noting that the Federal Government was earning between thirty-five and forty dollars above the budgeted crude oil price in the international spot market.
Keyamo, a former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, said the N70,000 national minimum wage was inadequate to withstand the economic pressures confronting Nigerian workers and urged the Federal Government to meet organised labour halfway in ongoing discussions on wages. He recalled the negotiations that preceded the increase from N30,000 to N70,000 in 2024 and said the current wage was insufficient to absorb the economic shocks workers now face. The minister noted that unions were demanding as much as N500,000 as a new minimum wage. "I will have none of it. Without these workers, we will not have a country," Keyamo said, criticising what he described as poor treatment of workers by some government agencies, including situations where workers were denied basic allowances while senior officials approved large sums for international trips.
The backdrop to the dispute is the dramatic escalation in petrol prices since the removal of fuel subsidy on May 29, 2023. Petrol prices have climbed from below N200 per litre before the subsidy removal to between N1,170 and N1,300 per litre in many parts of the country earlier in 2026, before rising further to N1,430 per litre and above in major urban centres. The Nigerian Labour Congress has said the rising cost of fuel has made transportation increasingly unaffordable for workers, while food prices and other essential commodities continue to surge beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians. In a letter to President Bola Tinubu in September, the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, which includes the Nigerian Civil Service Union, the Medical and Health Workers Union, the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria and the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, demanded a new minimum wage of N500,000 and a reduction of petrol price to N500 per litre. The council gave the government until September 30, 2026, to act, warning that the prevailing hardship was creating palpable tension among workers and Nigerians.
The workers' demands extend beyond wages. The JNPSNC described the provision of food palliatives such as bags of rice, Indomie, vegetable oil and garri as "as good as weaponising Nigerians with poverty" and an unsustainable intervention inaccessible to the majority of the population. It argued that reducing the cost of fuel to N500 per litre would have a multiplier effect on the economy, lowering transportation costs and easing pressure on food prices, rents and school fees. The council also called for an intervention fund, tax relief for low-income earners and the expansion of social support programmes.
Ajaero's advocacy for wage and pension indexation has become a central plank of the NLC's position. He argued that salaries and pensions should adjust automatically in response to changes in the cost of living or inflation, rather than being negotiated as fixed nominal figures that lose value as prices rise. "Negotiations are not just figures," he said. "Unless you index it either based on cost of living index or inflation, immediately inflation goes like this, automatically it will adjust to this, as it is affecting pension, so it affects salaries." He illustrated the point by saying that a nominally high wage could become worthless if the prices of basic commodities rose sharply. "Assuming one naira is equal to one dollar, I would advise Nigerian workers to remain at N70,000 because that would be big money for them, but you can see that you can equally get one million naira and a bag of rice is N500,000, so what of that? What happens?"
The summit also highlighted the precarious situation of pensioners, who are similarly exposed to the erosion of their incomes. Ajaero said minimum pension should be considered alongside minimum wage because workers and pensioners were both affected by prevailing economic conditions. The NLC's demand for indexation reflects a recognition that periodic wage reviews alone cannot keep pace with the volatility of Nigeria's economic environment, particularly in a period marked by exchange rate fluctuations, inflationary pressures and unpredictable policy shifts.
The Federal Government has not issued a formal response to the NLC's latest demands. The government has previously defended its economic reforms, arguing that the removal of petrol subsidy was necessary to stabilise public finances and attract investment, while acknowledging that the measures have imposed short-term hardship on citizens. President Tinubu has said his administration is committed to easing the burden on Nigerians through targeted interventions, including the compressed natural gas initiative, the student loan scheme and expanded social investment programmes. However, the NLC and the organised labour movement have consistently argued that these measures are insufficient to offset the impact of fuel price increases on household budgets.
The political dimension of the dispute is impossible to ignore. The 2027 general elections are less than four months away, with the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16. The cost of living and the price of petrol have become central issues in the campaign, with opposition candidates including Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress and Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress criticising the Tinubu administration's economic policies and proposing alternative approaches. Keyamo's public acknowledgment that the minimum wage is inadequate represents a significant moment in the debate, as it places a senior official of the ruling administration on record agreeing with labour's central premise. Whether that acknowledgment translates into concrete action on wages and fuel prices remains to be seen, but the NLC has made clear that it will continue to press its demands. As Ajaero put it, workers and pensioners cannot be expected to survive on wages that are wiped out by the rising cost of the very fuel their country produces.
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