The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has given the Federal Government a two-week ultimatum to reduce petrol prices and begin negotiations for a new national minimum wage.
The ultimatum, contained in a communiqué signed by NLC President Joe Ajaero, followed a joint meeting of the union’s National Executive Council and Central Working Committee in Abuja on Thursday.
The union said the government must reduce petrol prices to the level prevailing when the current national minimum wage was signed into law in 2024.
The ultimatum takes effect from Friday, October 9, with the NLC warning that it would take further action if the government failed to meet its demands within the stipulated period.
The congress also demanded that negotiations for a new minimum wage commence before the end of October, arguing that rising living costs and the depreciation of the naira had eroded the purchasing power of workers.
According to the NLC, high petrol prices have increased transportation fares and the cost of food and other essential goods, worsening the economic hardship facing workers and other Nigerians.
Beyond petrol prices and wage negotiations, the union called for the implementation of the agreement reached with the Joint Health Sector Unions and Assembly of Healthcare Professionals on February 5, 2026.
It also demanded the implementation of outstanding agreements with the Joint Public Sector Negotiating Council, the introduction of agreed tax relief measures and the immediate payment of wage awards to workers to cushion the impact of rising living costs.
The NLC urged its affiliates and workers to remain organised and prepared to respond if the government failed to address the demands.
The ultimatum follows a three-day warning strike by public sector workers under the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, which ended on October 4.
The workers had demanded a reduction in petrol prices to ₦500 per litre, the commencement of negotiations for a new minimum wage of at least ₦500,000 from 2027 and immediate wage awards.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the Federal Government was negotiating a proposed ceiling of ₦1,350 per litre on petrol’s ex-gantry or landing cost as part of efforts to stabilise pump prices.
The proposed ceiling relates to the ex-gantry or landing cost of petrol and should not be interpreted as a proposed retail pump price.