….Urge FG on payment of outstanding wage award arrears, promotion arrears
The Federal Workers Forum, (FWF), has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene and ensure the withdrawal of court charges filed against its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze, describing his recent arrest and detention as “a deliberate setup to silence the federal workers.”
The letter was jointly signed by Comrades Ogunwale Babatunde (Chairman Mobilisation Committee), Ismail Azeez (Osun State Chapter), Lazarus Bar (Plateau State Chapter), Aliyu Ibrahim (Sokoto State Chapter), Johnson Joseph (Taraba State Chapter), and Ogbona Grace (Abia State Chapter).
In a letter addressed to the President, the National Assembly, the Judiciary, and other key institutions on September 15, 2025 and made available to DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS, the forum stated that it was unjust for Emelieze to be singled out after leading a collective protest of federal workers over unpaid arrears, wage awards, and poor welfare conditions.
The forum also called for the “payment of outstanding wage award arrears, promotion arrears, all other pending outstanding arrears owed the federal workers, and the promotion of the well-being of the Nigerian federal workforce.”
The workers said their appeal was borne out of the “nagging harsh living conditions of the federal workers, outstanding backlog of promotion arrears, and others owed the federal workers, including the long overdue payment of the wage award/full implementation of the minimum wage.”
They recalled that it was a collective decision of members of the forum to protest on July 1, 2025, if their demands were not met, stressing that such civic action should not be criminalised.
“We do not see how this constitutes a crime or attack on the government. It is never our intention to attack the government but to call the attention of the federal government to address the challenges confronting the federal government workers,” it said.
The FWF condemned the arrest of Emelieze, stating: “We are surprised that this has led to the arrest and detention of just one man, Comrade Andrew Emelieze, being singled out for persecution. To us, this looks like a deliberate setup to silence the federal workers.”
They questioned whether the detention aligned with the President’s pro-democracy credentials.
It said, “We don’t believe this is the best for our democracy. We equally want to believe that President Tinubu is not aware of this case, we are equally in doubt that Mr President, who publicly touts being a pro-democracy advocate in the struggle to end military rule in Nigeria, will stoop so low to encourage the suppression of the citizenry.”
The forum insisted that responsibility for the protest was collective, saying, “We the workers are taking absolute responsibility for our collective decision to protest on July 1st, don’t hold it against just one man.
“It was a nationwide decision of the federal workers to raise their voices and attract the attention of the government. Comrade Emelieze never acted alone; he had our mandate to lead us. If you must punish anyone, please punish all of us; don’t single out just one man.”
They also reminded the government that their action had compelled some positive response.
“Sir, even the Accountant General responded to our protest immediately and promised to pay up the outstanding five months’ wage award owed to the federal workers and the full implementation of the new national minimum wage,” it said.
But the forum lamented that instead of addressing their concerns, authorities were “attacking the messenger.”
“Thus, what we had expected from the actors involved was for them to take our message to Mr President for urgent attention but they rather decided to attack the messenger instead of taking the message,” it said.
“This to us is unwarranted, unjust, inhuman, and a bad portrait of the image of the government. It is more of the vilification of Comrade Emelieze, and we reject this totally!”
Also, the workers reiterated their call for the settlement of all outstanding arrears and clarity on the implementation of the new minimum wage.
“We are also very confused about the implementation of the new national minimum wage as only ₦40,000 was the only thing added to the salaries of all federal government workers across all levels,” it said.
“Things are really very tough for us as subsidies on petrol; food; electricity; and such other valuable sectors of the economy has been removed by this regime. The wage award and palliatives promised are not only epileptic but buckets of water thrown into the oceans.”
They further urged President Tinubu to drop the proposed petrol tax policy reportedly set for January 2026, warning it would “further add to the hardship faced by the federal workers and that of the general populace.”
It would be recalled that following his release in August, Emelieze spoke about his detention by the DSS in Ibadan, describing it as a harrowing ordeal that left him sick afterward.
In a press release, Emelieze narrated, “It was really a very bad experience that I will not wish for my worst enemy, but we thank God, He saw me through. I got sick after my release, and I am getting better now.”
The labour activist, who was detained for 15 days, extended gratitude to Nigerians who stood by him during the period.
