NLC and TUC give FG until 27 October as petrol and wage talks end in deadlock

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have told their members to start mobilising for possible nationwide action after talks with the Federal Government on petrol prices and the minimum wage ended without agreement in Abuja on Thursday, 22 October 2026. The two sides are due to meet again on Tuesday, 27 October.

In a joint statement signed by the NLC’s acting general secretary, Benson Upah, and the TUC’s secretary-general, Nuhu Toro, the labour centres said the meeting at the Ministry of Labour and Employment had produced nothing concrete. “Regrettably, the government delegation came unprepared and without the necessary mandates to engage substantively on these issues,” they said. “No concrete commitments were secured, and the outstanding issues remain unresolved.”

Why it matters

The demands touch almost every household. The price of petrol feeds into transport fares and food prices, and the national minimum wage, now ₦70,000 a month, sets the lowest pay for millions of workers.

Labour has not called a strike. But the statement urged NLC and TUC affiliates, state councils and civil society allies to stay alert and begin mobilising for possible action across the country, while the unions wait to see whether the government meets their demands.

What does labour want?

• Petrol: pump prices brought back down to 2024 levels.
• Wages: negotiations on a new national minimum wage.
• Tax: the tax relief measures already agreed with the government.
• Health workers: the terms of settlement reached with the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Healthcare Professionals.
• Public servants: outstanding issues raised through the public service negotiating council (JPSNC), including peculiar allowances, wage awards and hazard allowances.

What does the government say?

According to the unions, the Minister of Labour and Employment asked for the meeting to be adjourned to Tuesday so that the government could bring the relevant ministers and the heads of departments and agencies to the table. GistMatrix found no public statement from the ministry on Thursday’s meeting by 10:50 WAT on Friday, 23 October.

The government’s last public positions on the two main demands are on record. In a letter to the NLC on 12 October, the labour minister said the ₦70,000 wage is not due for review until 1 June 2027, as GistMatrix reported. On petrol, the Finance Minister, Taiwo Oyedele, told an audience at Chatham House in London on Wednesday, 21 October: “The petrol subsidy is gone and it is staying gone.” GistMatrix watched that session in full.

What would 2024 petrol prices mean?

In its letter of 13 October, the NLC asked for petrol prices to return to their level when the current wage was signed in July 2024. That month, petrol cost an average of ₦770.54 a litre, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

By GistMatrix’s calculation, that is about 45% below the roughly ₦1,400 a litre that Oyedele gave as the average pump price on 8 October. In the meantime, NNPC Limited’s ₦66-a-litre discount at its own retail stations is due to run until 31 October.

How did we get here?

• Thursday, 8 October: the NLC gives the government two weeks to act on petrol prices and wages.
• 12 and 13 October: the labour minister and the NLC president, Joe Ajaero, exchange letters on when wage talks should start.
• Thursday, 22 October: the government and labour meet at the Ministry of Labour and Employment in Abuja, and the talks end in deadlock.

What happens next

• Tuesday, 27 October: the government and labour meet again in Abuja.
• If the talks fail: the NLC says it will report back to its organs, which will decide the next line of action. No strike has been called.
• Saturday, 31 October: the NNPC discount is due to end. Labour also wants minimum wage negotiations to begin before the end of October.

Are you a worker or a commuter feeling the squeeze? Tell GistMatrix how petrol prices and your pay have changed this year.