NLC Demands Immediate Petrol Price Cut, Wage Award, New Minimum Wage Talks

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the Federal Government to urgently reduce the price of petrol, implement a nationwide wage award for workers and commence negotiations for a new national minimum wage for 2027.

The demands were contained in an Independence Day message signed by NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, on September 30, 2026, titled “Our Hope Depends on the Choices We Make and the Actions We Take.”

The labour centre said rising transportation, food, rent and education costs had significantly eroded workers’ purchasing power, noting that petrol was selling at about ₦1,430 per litre or higher in major cities, with prices reportedly higher in some remote areas.

According to the NLC, the Federal Government should urgently address the effect of fuel prices on transportation costs, which it identified as a major channel through which inflation affects the prices of goods and services.

The union also demanded an immediate wage award for workers at the federal, state and local government levels. It described the intervention as an emergency measure to cushion declining real incomes rather than a permanent solution to the wage problem.

The demand follows the October 2023 agreement between the Federal Government and organised labour after the removal of the petrol subsidy, which included a ₦35,000 monthly wage award for federal workers, while states and local governments were encouraged to adopt similar measures.

The NLC further called for the implementation of tax-relief measures agreed with government and the immediate constitution of a tripartite committee to negotiate a new national minimum wage for 2027. It argued that the current ₦70,000 minimum wage had already lost substantial purchasing power to inflation.

Beyond wages and fuel prices, the labour body called for a reduction in the cost of governance, greater transparency in public spending, improved roads, functional hospitals, affordable education, stronger social protection and increased employment opportunities for young Nigerians.

The NLC also criticised Nigeria’s continued dependence on imported refined petroleum products and called for greater investment in domestic refining capacity.

On the 2027 elections, the union said workers should be free to make their political decisions independently and warned against voter intimidation, electoral manipulation and the use of ethnic or religious rhetoric. It said its proposed Workers’ Charter would, at the appropriate time, communicate its positions on policies and candidates.