Federal workers wrote to Tinubu, NASS, demanding N300,000 as minimum wage

The Civil Service under the auspices of the Federal Workers Forum has proposed a minimum wage arguing that the current wage structure no longer reflects the economic realities facing federal workers.

The forum in its letter to President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly, demanded an immediate review of salaries and an increase in the minimum wage from N70,000 to N300,000.

The letter dated September 2, 2026 signed by FWF National Coordinator, Andrew Emelieze and Secretary General, Ogundele Ayodele, was addressed to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives through the Clerk of the National Assembly, and President Tinubu, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation were also among its recipients.

The forum also proposed a salary of N1.5 million for Level 17 officers, and said “we call for fairness and an immediate salary review, adjusting the federal minimum wage to N300,000 and a maximum wage of N1.5 million for Level 17 officers.”

The FWF said the demands were necessary due to what they described as incomplete implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage approved in 2024, and claimed that federal workers had not received the full consequential adjustment and related benefits.

The group stated, “You will be surprised to hear that the Federal Government has not fully implemented the new national minimum wage as of July 2024. We are struggling to make full adjustments to the new minimum wage.”

According to workers, the 2024 wage review increases the minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000 but results in what they describe as a flat increase of N40,000 at all levels of the federal civil service.

The forum said, “Only N40,000 is added to the salary of every federal worker at all levels.”

FWF argues that the law’s three-year review period should not prevent the government from quickly responding to what it describes as an urgent decline in workers’ purchasing power.

The forum said, “In fact, it would be suicidal for federal workers to continue in this dire situation. Therefore, based on the current cost of living crisis, it is only fair that federal government wages be urgently reviewed to suit the current economic realities in Nigeria.”

Workers complain that the rising costs of food, transport, accommodation, electricity, cooking gas and other necessities make the N70,000 minimum wage insufficient.

“Federal workers have endured this situation, and everything is frustrating and sickening. We can’t take it anymore. Federal workers are dying slowly; we suffer in silence; our pay is too poor; it doesn’t bring us home,” the letter said.

FWF further alleges that some federal workers have incurred large debts to microfinance institutions and digital lending platforms in an effort to meet their daily needs.

“Federal workers are now heavily indebted to microfinance and, often, federal workers use phone loan apps to get transportation to work,” the group said.

The forum also stated that some workers were forced to use firewood because they could no longer afford gas for cooking.

The report argues that a worsening financial situation could affect worker productivity and create conditions conducive to corruption.

“While the Federal Government now makes more money, federal workers are underpaid and experiencing unprecedented suffering and hardship,” the workers said.

The forum also linked its demands to increased government revenues and spending, arguing that federal workers, described as the “engine room of government,” should benefit from increased national income.

It says, “Federal workers are the goose that lays the golden eggs, yet we are being exiled from our jobs.”

The workers said their proposed N300,000 minimum wage was based on estimated monthly expenses which include food, transport, accommodation, family allowance, electricity, cooking gas, telephone and data, water and other necessities.

“Our projections here are fair, and we believe they can still be accommodated in the current budget based on increasing daily revenues and excess crude oil sales revenues,” the forum said.