President Tinubu approves additional N10k for workers in bid to avert strike

Workers in Nigeria will receive an extra N10,000 per month from President Bola Tinubu.

According to Daily Trust, this comes after federal government officials met with labour leaders on Sunday to head off the impending nationwide strike.

The President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, presided over a meeting where it was decided that all employees would receive the N25,000 per month that had previously only been offered to low-cadre employees for six months.

According to reports, however, Labour Party leaders turned down the offer and demanded more.

A presidential statement announcing the N10,000 increase was released shortly after the news broke.

“The Federal Government met with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Sunday, October 1, 2023, to discuss ways to resolve the dispute over the removal of the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

The following was agreed upon by the parties:

After further consultation with President Bola Tinubu, the Federal Government has announced a N35,000 only provisional wage award for all treasury-paid federal government workers for six months.

To mitigate the impact on public transport caused by the elimination of the PMS subsidy, the federal government has pledged to expedite the delivery of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses.

“iii) The Federal Government will make available funds to support micro and small businesses.

The following are the most salient points that emerged from the discussions at the meeting:

Since the issues in dispute can only be resolved when workers are present at their jobs, the Federal Government urged the Labour unions not to embark on strike action.

The Labour Unions argued for a pay rise. To mitigate the negative effects of removing fuel subsidies, a subcommittee will be formed to iron out the specifics of their implementation.

President Joe Ajaero of the NLC, Dr. Tommy Etim Okon of the TUC, General Secretaries Emma Ugboaja of the NLC and Nuhu Toro of the TUC led the labour delegation.