Nigerian public servants have commenced a three-day nationwide warning strike over worsening economic hardship, rising fuel prices and the Federal Government’s failure to respond to demands presented by the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC).
The industrial action began at midnight on Friday, October 2, 2026, and is scheduled to run until Sunday, October 4, 2026. It is expected to affect workers across federal, state and local government services.
The JNPSNC directed its affiliated unions and public servants nationwide to withdraw their services in solidarity with workers and vulnerable Nigerians affected by the rising cost of living.
In a circular signed by the council’s National Secretary, Comrade Olowoyo Gbenga, the unions were instructed to mobilise their members for the warning strike.
The council said the decision followed the Federal Government’s failure to address demands contained in a letter sent to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on September 21, 2026.
Among the demands are the stabilisation of petrol prices at N500 per litre, immediate payment of a wage award to workers at the federal, state and local government levels, upward review of salaries and allowances, and the immediate constitution of a committee to negotiate a new national minimum wage ahead of January 2027.
The council said the economic and mental pressures facing workers and their families had become unbearable, stressing that the struggle was not limited to individual employees but also concerned their dependants and vulnerable Nigerians.
The JNPSNC stated that the warning strike was the implementation of an earlier ultimatum issued to the Federal Government after its demands were not addressed.
The council urged all public servants to participate in the action, saying the time had come for workers to collectively demand measures to ease the economic hardship affecting the country.
The development could disrupt government services nationwide during the three-day industrial action, depending on the level of compliance by workers and affiliated unions.
