• Say they lubricate economy but drying up
• Forum writes Tinubu, Akpabio, presents new minimum wage request

Despite the Federal Government’s latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth figures, the organised labour said that the reported expansion had yet to translate into improved economic wellbeing for civil servants, whose purchasing power continues to weaken amid rising petrol prices and high cost of living.

National President, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Shehu Mohammed, who spoke in Lagos yesterday, on the state of the economy and workers’ welfare, during the South-West zonal workshop of the association, themed “A Shift from Confrontation to Collaboration,” said the contradiction was evident in the fact that civil servants remained central to economic activity while their earnings were being steadily eroded by inflation and rising living costs.

“We are the engine room. We lubricate the economy. Unfortunately, what we are facing today is that as we are lubricating, we are also drying up,” he said.

He said that the quality of economic growth should not be measured solely by increases in GDP, but whether such growth translates into improved disposable income and purchasing power for workers and households.

According to him, the N70,000 national minimum wage has already lost substantial purchasing power to inflation, even before its full implementation across the country.

The labour leader said this had made the next review of the national minimum wage particularly important, stressing that preparations must begin ahead of the 2027 negotiations.

He said that the organised labour would need credible economic data to support its demands at the negotiating table.

Mohammed warned that further increase of fuel price would deepen hardship..

MEANWHILE, the Federal Workers Forum (FWF) has called on the Federal Government to immediately review the salaries of federal workers, demanding a minimum wage of N300,000 and a maximum salary of N1.5 million for officers on Grade Level 17.

The forum also demanded the full implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage, payment of outstanding wage-related arrears and the introduction of additional welfare measures to cushion the impact of the rising cost of living on federal workers.

National Coordinator of the FWF, Andrew Emelieze, and General Secretary, Ogundele Ayodele, made the demands in a statement yesterday and addressed to the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, President Bola Tinubu, Chief Justice of Nigeria and Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.