Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
The Nigeria Labour Congress has given the Federal Government a two-week ultimatum to reduce the price of petrol and commence the renegotiation of the national minimum wage, warning that failure to meet the demands within the stipulated period would compel it to take further action.
The ultimatum was contained in a communiqué issued after a joint meeting of the NLC's National Executive Council and Central Working Committee at Labour House in Abuja on Wednesday, October 8, 2026. The communiqué, signed by NLC President Joe Ajaero, stated that the two-week deadline would commence on Friday, October 9, 2026, and end on October 23. The labour centre demanded that the government take measures to reduce the price of petrol across the nation to what it was at the signing of the current national minimum wage in 2024, to cushion the impact of the energy crisis on workers and the general public. It also demanded the immediate commencement of negotiations for a new national minimum wage before the end of October.
The ultimatum represents the culmination of months of frustration within organised labour over the economic hardship facing Nigerian workers, and it directly challenges the Federal Government's handling of the fuel subsidy removal and its failure to deliver on the promises that accompanied the N70,000 minimum wage agreement. When the minimum wage was signed into law in July 2024, petrol was selling for approximately N700 per litre. The NLC has consistently argued that it accepted the N70,000 offer on the understanding that petrol prices would remain stable, a promise it says was broken within months when the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited raised pump prices from N897 per litre to over N1,000 in Abuja and from N855 to N998 in Lagos in October 2024. Since then, prices have continued to climb, reaching between N1,400 and N2,000 per litre in most parts of the country, with some remote locations recording prices as high as N2,500.
The NLC's demand is not merely for a price reduction but for a return to the specific pricing environment that existed when the minimum wage was signed. The union has calculated that at N1,400 per litre, the entire N70,000 monthly minimum wage buys just 50 litres of petrol, compared with approximately 118 litres at the N254 per litre national average in April 2023 and around 100 litres at N700 per litre in July 2024. The erosion of purchasing power has been compounded by food inflation, which stood at 19.57 per cent, and the rising cost of transportation, rent and electricity. The NLC has consistently argued that the N70,000 minimum wage has been rendered useless by the surge in fuel prices, and that without a corresponding reduction in the price of petrol, any wage increase would be swallowed by the cost of living.
The ultimatum came on the same day the Federal Government announced a 30-day discount on petrol dispensed by NNPC Limited, with priority for public transporters. The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, announced the measure at a press briefing in Abuja, insisting that it was not a subsidy but a decision to sell at cost. He also disclosed that the government was proposing to negotiate a ceiling of N1,350 per litre on the ex-gantry cost of petrol and introduce a price-modulation mechanism to smooth fuel-price changes over time. The government's intervention appeared designed to respond to the pressure from labour and the public without acceding to the NLC's demand for a return to the N700 per litre price level. The NLC's ultimatum suggests that the discount, however welcome, does not go far enough.
The political context of the standoff is charged. The 2027 general elections are less than four months away, with the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, and the governorship and state assembly elections for February 6. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is seeking a second term on the All Progressives Congress platform, while former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress, former Anambra Governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde of the Allied Peoples Movement are among the major challengers. Atiku has promised a capped production subsidy for locally refined petrol, while Obi has pledged to eliminate corruption before returning subsidy. The NLC's ultimatum places the cost of living and the fuel price at the centre of the campaign, and the government's response will be closely scrutinised by voters who have endured three years of rising prices.
The NLC's threat of further action if its demands are not met within two weeks raises the prospect of industrial action at a critical moment in the electoral calendar. The union has previously staged nationwide protests and warning strikes over the same issues, including a three-day warning strike by the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council on October 2 and an indefinite strike declared by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress on October 3. The government has urged labour to respect subsisting court orders restraining strike action, but the NLC has consistently argued that the hardship facing Nigerian workers justifies industrial action. The coming weeks will determine whether the government can reach an agreement with labour or whether the standoff escalates into a broader confrontation. For Nigerian workers, the ultimatum is a demand for the government to honour the bargain that made the N70,000 minimum wage acceptable in the first place. As Ajaero put it, the N70,000 was accepted on the basis that petrol prices would remain unchanged, and the government must now decide whether to keep that promise or face the consequences.
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