The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, Trade Union Side, has given the federal government an August 11 ultimatum to convene an urgent meeting over the delayed payment of two months’ wage award and the implementation of the 40 per cent peculiar allowance for federal workers.
The union urged the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to convene the meeting on or before August 11, warning that failure to resolve the issues could spark unrest among public servants.
In a letter addressed to the minister and signed by the National Secretary of the council, Gbenga Olowoyo, on behalf of the National Chairman, Benjamin Yanto, the union decried that two previous letters on the matter had received no response.
The union said the requested meeting was intended to find an amicable resolution to workers’ outstanding welfare demands and avert what it described as a “palpable disquiet and brewing industrial crisis.”
According to the council, its demands centred on two unresolved issues: the implementation of the 40 per cent peculiar allowance approved by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission and the payment of two months’ outstanding wage award covering March and April 2026.
It recalled that the allowance was approved through a circular signed by the Executive Chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, Eyo Nta, with effect from May 1, 2026, but had yet to be implemented, insisting that the outstanding wage award for March and April ought to have been paid alongside workers’ salaries for those months.
The JNPSNC further recalled that it first wrote to the minister on May 5, 2026, requesting payment of the outstanding wage award, and followed it up with another letter dated July 9, 2026, seeking both implementation of the 40 per cent peculiar allowance and payment of the wage award arrears but none of the letters were responded to.
The council further claimed that the prolonged silence from the finance ministry had heightened anxiety among federal workers.
The union said its latest request should be regarded as an effort to prevent workers from embarking on drastic actions, “due to your insensitive silence to our two previous letters.”
The JNPSNC is the umbrella negotiating body representing unions across the federal public service on issues relating to salaries, allowances and conditions of service.
