The Federal Workers Forum (FWF) has demanded an immediate increase in Nigeria’s national minimum wage from ₦70,000 to ₦300,000, accusing the Federal Government of failing to fully implement the 2024 wage award and consequential adjustments for federal civil servants.
In a press statement dated September 2, 2026, signed by National Coordinator Andrew Emelieze and General Secretary Ogundele Ayodele, the forum appealed to President Bola Tinubu, the National Assembly leadership, the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to intervene.
The group said federal workers had been engaged in a prolonged struggle for the full implementation of the new wage structure since the ₦70,000 minimum wage was approved in 2024.
The forum alleged that the implementation of the 2024 wage review translated into a flat ₦40,000 increase for federal workers, rather than the consequential adjustments it expected across the salary structure.
“It will surprise you to hear that the federal government has not fully implemented the new national minimum wage since July 2024,” the forum said.
The group also complained about outstanding payments, including what it described as a 40 per cent peculiar allowance. It said assurances that some outstanding payments would be made by August 15 had not been fulfilled as of the date of its statement.
FWF proposed a new salary structure beginning with ₦300,000 monthly for Grade Level 1 workers and rising progressively to ₦1.5 million for Grade Level 17 officers.
Under the proposal, salaries would range from ₦300,000 at Level 1 to ₦450,000 at Level 6, ₦510,000 at Level 8, ₦600,000 at Level 10, ₦700,000 at Level 12, ₦800,000 at Level 14 and ₦1 million at Level 15.
The forum proposed ₦1.2 million for Level 16 and ₦1.5 million for Level 17.
The group said the rising cost of transportation, food, cooking fuel and other essentials had eroded workers’ purchasing power.
“Federal workers are dying in instalments; we are suffering in silence; our salary is too poor; it is not taking us home,” the forum said.
It alleged that some workers had resorted to borrowing from microfinance institutions and digital lending platforms to meet basic expenses, including transportation to work. It also claimed that some households had switched to firewood because of the rising cost of cooking gas.
The forum linked the pressure on workers to the removal of petrol subsidies and the depreciation of the naira.
“Despite 500% increments in the price of petrol and the deliberate devaluation of the naira, only ₦40,000 was added to the salaries of each federal worker,” it said.
Beyond salaries, the forum called for investigations into alleged welfare problems within the Nigeria Correctional Service and Federal Fire Service.
It alleged that some correctional officers were required to fund uniforms, boots, belts and rank insignia from their own salaries and called for an independent investigation into alleged extortion during promotion exercises.
The group also criticised conditions in correctional centres, citing overcrowding, inadequate feeding, disease outbreaks and prolonged detention of awaiting-trial inmates.
“Our correctional centres have become places of torment instead of rehabilitation,” Emelieze said.
The FWF argued that the existing statutory review timetable should not prevent the government from responding to what it described as an emergency in workers’ purchasing power.
“We call for justice and immediate wage review now, adjust the federal minimum wage to ₦300,000 and a maximum wage of ₦1.5m for the Level 17 officers,” the forum demanded.
The Federal Government had not publicly responded to the forum’s latest demands as of September 3, 2026.
