BREAKING: FG meets two demands of Nigerian workers amid threat to shut down economy

The Nigerian government has reportedly met two key demands of the Nigerian Labour Congress amid a strike ultimatum.

The demands are the reversal of the 40 percent deduction from the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund into the national treasury and the appointment of Opeyemi Agbaje as chairman of the National Pension Commission.

Meanwhile, PenCom is yet to officially confirm Agbaje’s appointment as of filing the report.
Recall that last week, NLC, in a statement by its president Joe Ajaero, issued a seven-day notice to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to shut down the economy.

The NLC’s had demanded the diversion of workers’ funds domiciled with the NSITF and the constitution of the PenCom board.

However, reports showed that the federal government has acted upon the demands.

In a letter to the NLC dated August 16, 2025, NSITF Managing Director Oluwaseun Faleye said, “No further deductions would be made from either contributions or investment proceeds.”

In the letter, Faleye confirmed that the Federal Ministry of Finance circular (Ref: FMFCME/OTHERS/IGR/CFR/21/2021) dated December 28, 2023, introduced a policy of automatic deduction of 50 percent from the internally generated revenue of all Federal Government-owned enterprises.

NSITF clarified that said employers’ contributions remitted to the agency, which are statutory liabilities and not government revenue, are no longer being deducted following a March 2024 directive from the Accountant-General of the Federation, and some of the previously deducted funds have already been reversed.

“We have been assured that this matter will be addressed. Both the Minister of Finance and the Director-General of the Budget Office, in meetings held in August 2025, committed that no further deductions would be made from either contributions or investment proceeds,” the NSITF stated in a letter.

Reacting to the development, NLC Secretary, Christopher Onyeka confirmed the receipt of the letter, noting that its executive council will review the correspondence before deciding on the proposed strike.

“The contributions to NSITF are intended to compensate workers in the event of injury. They are not government revenue and should not be used for fiscal purposes.

“Protecting these funds is our responsibility,” he added.

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