Petrol Price Surge: FG gains, workers suffer — NLC; N70,000 wage inadequate – Keyamo

Joe Ajaero, NLC President

BY FRONTLINE REPORTERS

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has accused the Federal Government of benefiting from increased oil revenues following the recent surge in global crude oil prices, while workers and other Nigerians grapple with rising transport fares, food prices and declining purchasing power.

The labour centre called for urgent intervention measures to cushion the impact of rising petrol prices, arguing that additional revenue accruing to the country from higher global oil prices should be deployed to support workers and other vulnerable Nigerians.

The NLC’s position came as the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, said the current N70,000 national minimum wage was no longer sufficient to withstand the economic pressures confronting Nigerian workers.

Speaking at the 2026 National Pre-Retirement Summit organised by XEM Consultants Limited, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said increased revenue from higher oil prices should be channelled into intervention programmes, similar to measures adopted by other oil-producing countries.

Ajaero said the surge in international oil prices had created additional revenue for oil-producing nations, including Nigeria, and questioned why the gains could not be used to cushion citizens from the effects of higher fuel prices.

“As one of the oil-producing countries, they are making trillions because of the problem in the Strait of Hormuz. You can see that oil was pegged at maybe $70 or whatever dollars. It’s $100, so they are making an extra $30 or $40.

“Now, can’t you use this money to embark on some interventionary measures like other countries where this is affected, so that we’ll now be alive till the time when they will say minimum wage?”

The NLC president said negotiations on wages and pensions should not be based solely on nominal figures, but should take into account inflation, fuel prices, food costs and other factors that determine workers’ real purchasing power.

“Negotiations are not just figures,” he said, stressing that wage demands must reflect the actual value of workers’ earnings.

“Assuming one naira is equal to $1, I would advise Nigerian workers to remain at ₦70,000 because that would be big money for them, but you can see that you can equally get one million naira and a bag of rice is ₦500,000, so what of that? What happens?”

Ajaero warned that unpredictable changes in the cost of living could quickly erode the value of any wage agreement.

He also renewed the labour movement’s call for wage and pension indexation, arguing that salaries and pensions should automatically adjust in response to changes in inflation and the cost of living.

“Unless you index it either based on cost of living index or inflation, immediately inflation goes like this, automatically it will adjust to this, as it is affecting pension, so it affects salaries; and those are some of the things that will enable us to agree on something,” he said.

On minimum pensions, Ajaero said they should be considered alongside minimum wages because both workers and pensioners were affected by prevailing economic conditions.

“You can’t stay here and say, ‘Oh, pension should be this,’ but like I said, it has to be negotiated. While you are negotiating minimum wage, you can equally look at minimum pension because you can’t control…”

He explained that the reduction of the minimum-wage review cycle from five years to three years was intended to allow wages to respond more quickly to changing economic conditions.

“…and that was what informed our decision to reduce the cycle from five years to three years. Today, you can see that minimum wage is to be negotiated every three years, but what we met on ground was five years. Assuming you have to wait for the next three years to make it five years, what would have been the condition of the Nigerian worker?”

Ajaero also questioned the government’s ability to control inflation, stabilise the naira and moderate prices, recalling that Nigeria previously operated price-control mechanisms.

“Can the government of this day check inflation? Can they check the value of the currency? Even if we had to take this, can they even check the issue of price? There was a time in this country when we had a price control mechanism.”

He also questioned the effectiveness of measures intended to reduce workers’ transportation and energy costs, including the Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, programme.

“Are we even producing enough in terms of food, reliance on food? Now, between that time and now, the most troublesome problem for a worker, which happened to be transportation — the CNG policy, did it work? Where and where can you refill your tank? How many vehicles have been converted to CNG? How many electric vehicles are on the road?”

The NLC president said the situation would be easier for workers if these factors were adequately addressed.

“So if these factors were controlled, you can see that things would have been easier for us, but if not, then it’s like we’ll still be in the game again,” he said.

On the timing of the next minimum-wage review, Ajaero said the current agreement was expected to expire around March or April, stressing that negotiations should begin early.

“This minimum wage is supposed to expire March–April, so the conversation ought to start early. That’s a three-year cycle,” he said.

He, however, said the immediate priority was to address the economic pressure currently facing workers.

“But now we are more concerned on ‘give us this day’ — how to survive today before that time. Because these policies of the fuel going up, jumping up, and the Nigerian government is making a whole lot of money from it.”

N70,000 Minimum Wage Inadequate — Keyamo

Also speaking at the summit, Keyamo called for improved wages for Nigerian workers, saying the current N70,000 minimum wage was inadequate in the face of rising living costs.

The minister, who previously served as Minister of State for Labour and Employment, recalled the negotiations that preceded the increase in the national minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000.

He said the current wage remained insufficient to absorb the economic pressures confronting workers and urged the government to meet labour halfway in ongoing wage discussions, noting that unions were now demanding as much as N500,000.

Keyamo also criticised what he described as the poor treatment of workers by some government agencies, particularly situations where workers were allegedly denied basic allowances while senior officials spent large sums on international trips.

“I will have none of it. Without these workers, we will not have a country,” he said.

The minister stressed the need to prioritise workers’ welfare, describing the human factor as central to productivity and national development.

Summit Targets Life After Retirement

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of XEM Consultants Limited and convener of the summit, Dr Eugenia Ndukwe, said the programme was designed to equip senior professionals with financial, health, entrepreneurial and investment skills for life after active service.

Ndukwe said the summit would focus on financial management, health and wellness, entrepreneurship and investment, estate and wealth management, as well as agricultural enterprise systems.

She said digital innovation was changing the way people worked and earned income, creating opportunities for senior professionals to remain productive beyond formal employment.

According to her, XEM Consultants partnered with Galaxy Backbone to provide participants with digital skills and tools to explore opportunities created by technology.

She said the summit was aimed at promoting a new approach to retirement in Africa by helping professionals develop personalised plans based on their financial circumstances, career goals, health needs and post-service aspirations.