From Victor Osula, Abuja
The Federal Workers Forum (FWF) has asked President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to urgently review the salaries of federal civil servants, declaring that the N70,000 minimum wage has become grossly inadequate amid the country’s worsening cost-of-living crisis.
The forum is demanding that the minimum wage for federal workers be increased to N300,000, while proposing a maximum salary of N1.5 million for Level 17 officers.
The demand was contained in a letter dated September 2, 2026, signed by the National Coordinator of the FWF, Andrew Emelieze, and its General Secretary, Ogundele Ayodele.
In the letter addressed to the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives through the Clerk of the National Assembly, with President Tinubu, the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation listed among the recipients, the workers said the proposed salary review had become an urgent necessity because of the widening gap between workers’ earnings and the cost of necessities.
“We call for justice and immediate wage review now, adjust the federal minimum wage to N300,000 and a maximum wage of N1.5m for the Level 17 officers,” the forum stated, adding that its demand was also driven by what it described as the incomplete implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage approved in 2024.
According to the workers, federal employees have continued to battle the government over the full consequential adjustment and associated allowances arising from the new wage regime.
“It will surprise you to hear that the Federal Government has not fully implemented the new national minimum wage since July 2024. We have been in the battle for full consequential adjustment of the new minimum wage,” the forum said.
The workers alleged that although the 2024 wage review raised the minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000, federal employees across the different levels effectively received only a flat N40,000 addition.
“Only N40,000 was added to the salaries of every federal worker across all levels,” they alleged.
The N70,000 minimum wage replaced the N30,000 benchmark following negotiations between the Federal Government and organised labour.
The wage framework was designed to be reviewed after three years.
The Forum, however, argued that the three-year review provision should not prevent the government from intervening earlier where economic conditions have deteriorated sharply.
It said waiting until the next scheduled review would further expose workers to hardship.
“As a matter of fact, it is suicidal for the federal workers to continue in this ugly situation. Hence, based on the current cost-of-living crisis, it can only be a matter of justice that the federal wages be immediately reviewed to meet up with the current economic realities in Nigeria,” it said.
The workers said the rapid increase in the prices of food, transportation, accommodation, electricity, cooking gas and other essential commodities had effectively eroded the value of their salaries. They described the situation as one in which federal employees were increasingly unable to meet their basic household obligations.
“Federal workers have been enduring the situation, and everything has been frustrating and nauseating. We cannot cope again. Federal workers are dying in instalments; we are suffering in silence; our salary is too poor; it is not taking us home,” the letter stated.
The forum alleged that some workers had accumulated significant debts with microfinance institutions and digital lending platforms as they struggled to meet daily expenses.
“Federal workers are now heavily indebted to microfinances and, most times, federal workers resort to phone loan apps to get transportation to work,” it said.
The workers further claimed that some federal employees had been forced to resort to firewood because they could no longer afford cooking gas.
According to the Forum, the financial pressure could eventually undermine productivity and create an environment in which corruption becomes more attractive.
“While the Federal Government is making more money now, the federal workers are underpaid and subjected to unprecedented sufferings and hardship,” the group said.
The FWF attached a proposed salary structure to its letter, with N300,000 designated as the salary for Level 1 Step 1 workers.
Under the proposal, Level 2 workers would earn N330,000; Level 3, N360,000; Level 4, N390,000; Level 5, N420,000; Level 6, N450,000; and Level 7, N480,000.
The forum proposed N510,000 for Level 8 officers, N550,000 for Level 9, N600,000 for Level 10, N700,000 for Level 12, N750,000 for Level 13, and N800,000 for Level 14.
The proposed salary for Level 15 officers is N1 million, while Level 16 officers would earn N1.2 million and Level 17 officers N1.5 million.
The forum said its N300,000 minimum wage proposal was based on estimated monthly expenditure on feeding, transportation, accommodation, family support, electricity, cooking gas, telephone and data, water and other utilities.
“Our projections here are fair, and we believe it can still be accommodated in the present budget based on the daily increased earnings and the excess crude oil sales earnings,” the workers said.
The workers said the government should not wait until July 2027 before reviewing salaries, arguing that the economic circumstances confronting employees require immediate action.
They linked their demand to what they described as increased government revenues, arguing that federal workers, whom they described as the “engine room of governance”, should benefit from improved national earnings.
“The federal workers are the goose that lays the golden egg, but we are alienated from our labour,” the forum said.
The group argued that improved salaries were not merely a welfare issue but also essential to maintaining productivity and ensuring that government policies were effectively implemented.
Beyond the proposed N300,000 minimum wage, the Forum demanded the payment of all outstanding salaries, promotion arrears and other entitlements owed federal workers.
It also called for the immediate implementation and payment of arrears of the 40 per cent peculiar allowance and full consequential adjustment of the 2024 minimum wage.
The workers further demanded a permanent Cost of Living Allowance and a Family Support Allowance to cushion the impact of rising household expenses.
They called for an end to stagnation within the civil service, the declaration of vacancies to facilitate promotions, comprehensive health insurance for federal workers and pensioners, car and housing loan schemes, long-service awards and improved pension arrangements.
The forum also demanded free education for the children of federal workers and pensioners in federal institutions, alongside reduced taxation of workers’ allowances and other tax relief measures.
The FWF expanded its demands to include broader social and economic interventions for Nigerians. It appealed to the Federal Government to establish a comprehensive social security programme for unemployed and underemployed Nigerians.
The group also called for free medical care for children, pregnant women and elderly citizens, as well as federal intervention programmes for the treatment of cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
On insecurity, the workers urged the government to strengthen measures aimed at protecting Nigerians and securing the release of kidnapped citizens.
The forum also called on the National Assembly to investigate reports that part of workers’ contributory pension savings was being borrowed by the Executive.
“We like to bring to the notice of the National Assembly that we are hearing rumours that part of our contributory pension savings is being borrowed by the executive. We are calling for investigations and an immediate stoppage cum refund if it is true,” it stated.
The workers further demanded the return of petrol subsidy, price-control measures for essential goods and services, stronger local production and industrialisation, and measures to reverse the decline in the purchasing power of Nigerians.
