Wage award arrears: Labour gives FG Feb 27 deadline

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Organised labour in the federal public service has issued a fresh ultimatum to the Federal Government over wage award arrears, demanding the immediate release of funds to clear three months of outstanding payments and other unpaid entitlements owed to workers across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

The ultimatum was issued by the leadership of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), Trade Union Side, which warned that failure to meet the deadline of Friday, February 27, 2026, would compel the civil service unions involved to take “appropriate actions.”

In a letter addressed to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and copied to key offices including the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, labour centres and security agencies, the unions accused the government of deliberately withholding funds meant for workers. They argued that the bottleneck is not at the level of payment processing, but at the point of fund release.

According to the unions, agencies responsible for disbursing the money are prepared to process payments once the Ministry of Finance releases the required funds, describing the delay as avoidable and provocative at a time federal workers are battling rising living costs.

https://ogelenews.ng/wage-award-arrears-labour-gives-fg-feb-27-deadline

What the unions are demanding

At the centre of the dispute are wage award arrears connected to the federal government’s provisional wage award arrangement, introduced as a temporary cushion following the removal of petrol subsidy.

In October 2023, the Presidency announced approval of a N35,000 provisional wage award for treasury-paid federal workers for six months, pending the conclusion of negotiations on a new national minimum wage.

But organised labour says implementation has been inconsistent and has dragged for more than two years in different forms, with arrears piling up. The unions specifically claim that five months were left unpaid from the start, and that only after pressure did the government pay two months in staggered tranches, leaving three months unpaid since July 2024.

Labour’s letter also pushes beyond wage award arrears, listing other outstanding obligations they want addressed. These include:

Promotion arrears for workers promoted more than three years ago
Salary arrears for employees recruited between 2015 and 2024
Proper implementation of a 40% peculiar allowance, which the unions said should reflect the new minimum wage baseline

“Release our money now”

The tone of the ultimatum is blunt: pay, or face disruption.

Labour leaders insist the federal workforce should not be forced to “suffer undue hardship” because funds are trapped in government bureaucracy. They say the wage award arrears are not a favour but an obligation, especially because the wage award was framed as a cushioning measure tied to harsh economic reforms.

The unions also referenced the transition to the new minimum wage environment, noting that while the Federal Government has approved a N70,000 minimum wage, workers are still owed money from the earlier wage award period, and they want that settled rather than quietly abandoned.

Why this matters now

The renewed threat raises the familiar question: is the Federal Government headed for another industrial face-off with organised labour?

In practical terms, any coordinated action by unions within the federal public service could disrupt services across MDAs, affecting administrative processing, public-facing government functions, and routine operations that depend on civil servants.

It also reopens scrutiny of government credibility on labour agreements. In the past, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation has issued multiple updates on the payment of wage award arrears in tranches, reinforcing the pattern of staggered settlement rather than a one-off clearance.

For workers, however, staggered payments have not calmed tensions. The unions argue that arrears stretching from 2024 into 2026 represent a prolonged breach that deepens hardship in a high-inflation economy.

What to watch next

All eyes are now on the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment ahead of February 27, 2026.

If funds are released and payments hit accounts, labour may step back. If not, the unions have signalled they will “take the bull by the horn” — language that typically precedes picketing, work-to-rule, or broader industrial action.

Either way, the wage award arrears dispute is fast becoming a fresh test of how the Federal Government manages post-subsidy labour obligations, and whether negotiated relief packages can be trusted when implementation hits fiscal pressure.