The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has faulted the Federal Government’s latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures, saying the reported economic growth has yet to translate into improved living conditions for Nigerians, particularly workers.
ASCSN President, Shehu Mohammed, stated this yesterday while speaking with journalists at the association’s South-West zonal workshop, themed “A Shift from Confrontation to Collaboration,” in Lagos.
Mohammed also expressed concern over the continued rise in petrol prices, warning that the escalating cost of fuel was worsening the economic hardship confronting workers and households.
He said the N70,000 minimum wage had effectively lost its purchasing power to inflation even before its full implementation.
“The reported growth is not reflected in the living condition of Nigerians, especially workers. We are the engine room of the economy. We lubricate the economy, but it is very unfortunate that what we are facing today is that we are lubricating, but we are drying,” he said.
According to him, the erosion of workers’ income over the past two to three years has made the need for a new minimum wage increasingly urgent.
Mohammed said organised labour would begin preparations for negotiations on a new minimum wage next year.
“By next year, we are going into negotiations for a new minimum wage. So, any moment from now, in the pre-negotiation session, we need to kick-start the process so we have our data across the table and can negotiate a better minimum wage for Nigerian workers,” he said.
He maintained that improving the economic wellbeing of civil servants was critical to stimulating broader economic activity.
“Civil servants are really the ones suffering because when you empower civil servants economically, then the nation will have a change of movement. When civil servants are deprived of a befitting minimum wage and economic empowerment, then definitely, the economy of the country will also suffer,” he added.
Fuel prices above N1,000 unacceptable — ASCSN
On the rising cost of petrol, Mohammed attributed the development to the removal of fuel subsidy and the continued dependence on international market pricing despite Nigeria’s underutilised refining capacity.
“It is the other side of subsidy removal. Upon the removal of subsidy, that means you are going to buy fuel at international market rates, despite the fact that we have refineries that are not functioning. So, that has caused fuel prices to escalate to this level of over N1,000,” he said.
Osifo demands inflation-linked wages for oil workers
Meanwhile, immediate past President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Festus Osifo, has called for workers’ remuneration in the oil and gas sector to reflect prevailing inflation.
Osifo, who is also President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), made the call at a reception organised by the TotalEnergies E&P branch of PENGASSAN to mark the completion of his six-year tenure as president of the union.
He stressed that protecting jobs, improving workers’ welfare and ensuring that salaries keep pace with inflation must remain central to the future of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
