Key points

• The strike runs from midnight on Friday, Oct. 2, to Sunday, Oct. 4, across federal, state and local government services.
• The council says the government failed to respond to demands sent to President Bola Tinubu on Sept. 21.
• Demands include petrol at N500 a liter, an immediate wage award and a tripartite committee for a new minimum wage before 2027.

Public service workers across Nigeria’s three tiers of government have begun a three-day warning strike, with their negotiating council citing “unbearable” economic and mental hardship and the Federal Government’s silence on its demands.

The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council directed its national and state leaders to mobilize members for the action, which runs from midnight on Friday, Oct. 2, to Sunday, Oct. 4. The instruction came in a circular dated Oct. 1 and signed by national secretary Olowoyo Gbenga.

According to the circular, the council wrote to President Bola Tinubu on Sept. 21 setting out its requests. The government did not act, it said, and the strike follows from that failure.

What the workers want

The council’s demands target the cost of living directly. It has asked the Federal Government to cut the pump price of petrol to N500 a liter, approve an immediate wage award for workers and set up a tripartite committee to negotiate a new national minimum wage ahead of 2027.

Those requests reflect pressure that has built steadily as fuel, transport and food costs have climbed. Earlier this month, Punch reported petrol selling for as much as N1,500 a liter in parts of the country, which makes the N500 demand a call for a two-thirds reduction.

“The economic and mental hardships are becoming unbearable and frustrating,” the circular said. Consequently, it urged all public servants at federal, state and local levels to join, declaring that “an injury to one is an injury to all.”

A warning, not a full shutdown

The council framed the three days as a warning intended to draw attention to workers’ difficulties rather than an open-ended shutdown. Even so, it expressed confidence in the outcome, closing the circular with the line, “Surely, there is victory for us!!!”

The timing matters. A strike spanning Friday through Sunday limits disruption to one working day, which suggests the council wants to signal intent without immediately paralyzing government services. However, the circular made clear that a fuller action could follow if the demands remain unanswered.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour had not responded to requests for comment at the time of filing. The JNPSNC maintained that the strike would proceed as scheduled.

The action adds to a crowded labor calendar. Resident doctors at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital have been on indefinite strike since Sept. 11 over unpaid allowances, and health workers elsewhere have issued their own notices.