NLC MOBILISES FOR NATIONWIDE ACTION TO PROTEST HIGH COST OF LIVING, GIVES FG OCTOBER 27 DEADLINE

By Peter Salami
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has ordered its affiliates and state councils to begin mobilising workers for possible nationwide industrial action after talks with the Federal Government over petrol prices, wages and other welfare demands ended without agreement.

The labour centre has effectively given the government until Tuesday, October 27, to make meaningful concessions, warning that its relevant organs will determine the next course of action if a fresh round of negotiations fails to produce concrete commitments.

Thursday’s meeting between the Federal Government and organised labour at the Ministry of Labour in Abuja ended without resolution, with the NLC accusing the government delegation of arriving without adequate preparation or the necessary mandate to negotiate key issues.

In a statement issued after the meeting by its Acting General Secretary, Benson Upah, the NLC said organised labour presented its demands in good faith but received no firm commitments from the government.

Among its demands are a reduction in petrol prices to 2024 levels, renegotiation of the national minimum wage, implementation of agreed tax relief measures and resolution of outstanding demands involving the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU).

Labour is also demanding action on issues raised by the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC), including peculiar allowances, wage awards, and hazard allowances.

“The meeting between the Federal Government and organised labour, convened at the Ministry of Labour in Abuja on 22nd October 2026, has ended without resolution,” the NLC said.

According to the Congress, the Minister of Labour requested that negotiations be adjourned until October 27 to allow the government to assemble relevant ministers and heads of departments and agencies and obtain the mandates necessary for substantive negotiations.

The NLC said it accepted the adjournment but warned that workers would not tolerate endless delays in addressing worsening economic pressures and outstanding labour demands.

“We will report back to our organs, and if no meaningful progress is made on Tuesday, the relevant organs of the NLC will decide the next line of action,” it said.

Ahead of the meeting, however, the Congress has placed its nationwide structures on alert.

It directed affiliates, state councils, and civil society allies to begin preparations for possible action across the country should negotiations collapse.

“However, we urge all affiliates of NLC and TUC; all state councils, and our civil society allies to be alert and start mobilising for a possible action across the nation while we hope that the tenets of our demands are met by the government,” the statement said.

The Congress urged workers and the public to remain calm while maintaining that it remained committed to resolving the dispute through dialogue.