JUST-IN : Public Servants Begin 3-Day Warning Strike October 2 Over Unmet Demands

Public servants across the federal, state and local governments have been directed to withdraw their services from midnight on Friday, October 2, to Sunday, October 4, 2026, as the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) begins a three-day nationwide warning strike over unmet demands.

The Council, in a circular issued on Thursday and obtained by LEADERSHIP, said the strike followed the failure of the federal government to address demands contained in a letter sent to President Bola Tinubu on September 21, 2026.

Among the demands are the stabilisation of petrol prices at N500 per litre, immediate wage awards for workers at the federal, state and local government levels, upward review of salaries and allowances, and the immediate constitution of a committee to negotiate a new national minimum wage ahead of January 2027.

In the September 21 letter to President Tinubu, the council formally presented its demands to the presidency and subsequently maintained that the government’s response would determine whether the planned warning strike would proceed.

However, the Council said the failure of the government to address its requests had triggered the industrial action.

The circular, signed by the council’s national secretary, Comrade Olowoyo Gbenga, said the warning strike was in line with an earlier position by the national leadership that the action would commence if the government failed to respond to its demands.

The development is expected to disrupt public services nationwide as the council directed all public servants to participate in the action, citing worsening economic conditions and the hardship confronting workers, their dependants and vulnerable Nigerians.

The Council urged workers to mobilise fully for the three-day warning strike, which begins at midnight on Friday and ends on Sunday, October 4.

The circular reads, “The three day warning strike earlier scheduled shall commence immediately.

“Consequent upon the above, the strike shall start with effect from midnight of Friday 2nd October, 2026 to Sunday October 4th, 2026.”

The council added, “In the same vein, all public servants in the services of federal, state and local governments are to join the warning strike because an injury to one is an injury to all.

“Most especially all workers, their dependants, vulnerable and hapless Nigerians are groaning terribly under the present economic hardship.

“The economic and mental hardships are becoming unbearable and frustrating. The time to act and mobilise workers for the three days warning strike is now!!!”