Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of defaulting on its own wage support pledge to federal workers and warned against what he described as the government’s “authoritarian drift.”

In a statement shared on his verified X page on Saturday, Atiku said the government owed civil servants four months’ worth of wage awards totalling ₦140,000 per worker promised as temporary relief following the removal of fuel subsidy in May 2023.

“When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu hastily and thoughtlessly removed fuel subsidy on the day of his inauguration, he triggered an economic avalanche that has since buried the average Nigerian under the weight of inflation, hunger, and despair,” Atiku wrote.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general election criticised the government’s delay in reaching an agreement on a new minimum wage, saying it took 10 months to settle on a figure. As a result, he claimed, the administration now owes workers wage awards dating back to the start of that process.

“Only six months have been paid, and that too after a series of unfulfilled assurances and avoidable delays,” he added.

Atiku also condemned what he described as the government’s increasing intolerance toward dissent, citing the recent arrest of labour activist Andrew Uche Emelieze. Emelieze, he said, was detained for attempting to organise a peaceful protest to demand payment of the outstanding arrears.

“His only ‘crime’ was speaking up for workers abandoned by the state,” Atiku said, calling for the activist’s immediate and unconditional release. “His continued detention is an affront to democracy, a slap in the face of every Nigerian worker, and a chilling reminder of the authoritarian drift of the Tinubu administration.”

While acknowledging that some state governments have handled labour relations more responsibly, the former vice-president accused the federal government of “callous indifference and utter disdain for workers’ welfare.”

He concluded with a warning that Nigerian workers will not be silenced, intimidated, or forgotten, and called on the administration to fulfil its promises rather than repress calls for justice.