Eight unions have threatened a three-day warning strike from tomorrow. The price they want is under 40 per cent of the gantry price Dangote charged marketers on 21 September.

Eight public sector unions want petrol at ₦500 a litre. On 21 September, Dangote’s gantry price to marketers was ₦1,325. ₦500 is about 38 per cent of that figure. A gantry price is what a refinery charges marketers at its loading point. The pump price can be higher.

The unions sit under the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council. They wrote to the President on 21 September with three demands. They want petrol at ₦500, an immediate wage award, and a committee to open talks on a new minimum wage. They asked him to answer in today’s broadcast. Their 30 September deadline has passed. They have threatened a three-day warning strike from tomorrow, Friday 2 October.

The council’s National Secretary, Gbenga Olowoyo, said the government could cut the price by selling crude to Dangote and modular refineries on appropriate terms. The council also proposes an intervention fund to lower landing costs. Both proposals would require government action. The reporting cited here doesn’t establish what effect either would have on pump prices.

On 22 September, a day after the unions wrote, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Heineken Lokpobiri told Channels Television the government has no power to control the petrol price. He said it is deregulated. He added that Nigeria couldn’t regulate prices arbitrarily without reintroducing the subsidy.

The President had said something similar three days earlier. On 19 September, he ruled out a return to the petrol subsidy, which he called “ruinous” and said had consumed trillions of naira. The regulator, NMDPRA, scheduled a consultative meeting with refiners, depot owners, marketers and retailers on petrol pricing. The reporting cited here gives no outcome.

The refinery’s own price has moved. Dangote raised its gantry price four times between 21 August and 12 September, from ₦1,165 to ₦1,185, ₦1,200, ₦1,265 and then ₦1,350. That is ₦185 or 15.9 per cent in 22 days. The refinery tied the latest rise to crude above $104 a barrel. On 21 September, it cut the price by ₦25.

The pump figures in circulation come from different sources, places and dates.

Figure	What it is	Source and date
₦500 a litre	The unions’ demanded pump price. A proposal.	JNPSNC letter of 21 September
₦1,325 a litre	Dangote’s gantry price	Cut from ₦1,350 on 21 September, per Legit
₦1,380 to ₦1,400	Lagos pump prices	ThisDay, 17 September
₦1,395 to ₦1,450	Abuja and other places	Legit, around 21 September
₦1,430 or higher	Major cities	NLC statement, 30 September
₦1,450 to ₦2,000, up to ₦2,500	The unions’ own range, with the top figure in some places	JNPSNC statement, 29 September

The wage demand is the second figure in dispute. The unions want a new minimum wage of not less than ₦500,000 from 2027. The current minimum is ₦70,000, so the figure is more than seven times it. The Nigeria Labour Congress backed them. NLC President Joe Ajaero said in its Independence Day statement that the ₦70,000 wage was “already destroyed by inflation before it was implemented”. At ₦1,400 a litre, ₦70,000 buys 50 litres. That is an illustration and not a measure of disposable income.

There is a precedent from three years ago. In his 2023 Independence broadcast, Tinubu announced a provisional wage increase of ₦25,000 a month for six months for low-grade workers. Unions had said they would begin an indefinite strike two days later.

The unions say two government decisions would lower the price. The minister says the government has no power to control it. The reporting cited here doesn’t show how the unions responded to this morning’s broadcast.