• Workers urge FG to reduce PAYE tax
• Tinubu’s govt aloof, doesn’t engage with NLC, Ajaero alleges

The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) has advised the Federal Government to use the lull following its three-day warning strike to engage its leadership, warning that failure to address workers’ demands could trigger a total strike in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, many Federal Government workers have continued to express concern over the high income taxes deducted from their salaries monthly through the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) model.

For failure to address workers’ concerns, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, alleged that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is aloof and disconnected from NLC.

JNPSNC said the warning strike, which ended yesterday, was a demonstration of the growing dissatisfaction among public servants over rising fuel prices, declining purchasing power and the delay in commencing negotiations for a new national minimum wage due in 2027.

The National Secretary, Gbenga Olowoyo, told The Guardian that strategic meetings had commenced to sensitise public servants nationwide to the “next struggle” if the government fails to respond to the issues raised.

He said the council put compliance with the warning strike at about 65 per cent nationwide, noting that private sector workers were not part of the action.

There was full compliance in Akwa Ibom, Oyo, Osun, Kaduna, Sokoto and Gombe states, while partial compliance was recorded in other states, Olowoyo pointed out.

According to him, the strike has sparked public discourse, with members of the public describing it as a popular decision by the national leadership of the JNPSNC.

He also acknowledged the support of NLC, saying its President, Ajaero, had thrown his weight behind the three-day warning strike.

JNPSNC demands, he insisted, remain the reduction and stabilisation of fuel prices, an upward review of public servants’ salaries and allowances, and the immediate constitution of a tripartite committee to negotiate the 2027 national minimum wage.

Speaking to journalists yesterday, the civil servants expressed frustration, given the country’s economic situation.

They demanded an immediate reduction in the PAYE deducted from their monthly salaries, lamenting that the large amount of tax deducted from their pay had reduced their purchasing power due to rising prices of goods and services.

Erica Eniola, a civil servant, urged the government to revisit the issue of income tax, which had imposed a heavy burden on civil servants’ finances.

She said the new minimum wage had not substantially improved the monthly earnings of government workers, yet the taxes remained high.

“Imagine a Level 15 officer with a monthly salary of less than N400,000 paying almost N60,000 tax. It is alarming.

“Despite huge taxes deducted from salaries on a monthly basis, the government workers still pay Value Added Tax (VAT), and other forms of taxes on certain goods and services, making it multiple taxation,” Emilia lamented.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has begun a six-week review of Nigeria’s tax reforms to address implementation gaps, ambiguities and unintended consequences. The exercise will review key areas of the tax regime, including VAT thresholds, withholding tax, capital gains treatment, and multiple taxation, with recommendations expected to be included in the Finance Bill 2027.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said this in Abuja recently, while inaugurating the Technical Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms.

Oyedele said the implementation of the new laws exposed areas requiring clarification, refinement and further reforms.

According to him, the real test begins when the law meets the economy, as businesses interpret it, administrators implement it, investors respond to it, and citizens experience it.

Ajaero, speaking at the weekend on the latest episode of Mic On Podcast, said the congress’s attempts to engage the government failed.

He said the NLC wrote to Tinubu between May and December 2025 but received no response, prompting the congress to announce a nationwide protest.

“For the past two to three years, it’s not the government that is engaging. This government doesn’t engage,” he said. “By December 17, 2025, we pulled out that we were going to the streets. After writing a letter from May to December to the President and receiving no response, we set a date to go to the streets.

“After that, some governors intervened, and we had an interface. So, some governors met with us, and since then, we have talked once or twice. But those issues, from December last year to now, they are just doing their business. Everybody is their enemy.”

The union had earlier threatened to go on strike if the government failed to slash the price of petrol to N500 per litre and approve a new wage award for workers