Labour Negotiator Retains ₦500,000 Wage Demand but Signals Room for Talks

A labour negotiator has said a ₦500,000 minimum-wage demand remains part of the negotiating framework while signalling a willingness to be flexible. The statement is attributed to Gbenga Olowoyo, national secretary of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, in coverage of his ARISE News interview.

The interview followed the government–labour meeting on Tuesday, 27 October, at which a six-month ₦70,000 transport intervention was agreed. ARISE’s account was published on 28 October and describes negotiations lasting more than six hours.

Secondary reporting of Olowoyo’s remarks quotes him saying the ₦500,000 template remained in place, while also saying labour would be reasonable rather than rigid. That qualification is important: the evidence supports a negotiating demand, not a refusal to discuss any other figure.

Olowoyo welcomed the transport commitment as short-term relief. It does not replace the separate negotiation over a revised minimum wage, and no new national wage of ₦500,000 has been approved by the agreement described in the reports.

Coverage says labour hopes negotiations can be completed before the temporary intervention ends in April 2027. That is an expectation expressed by a negotiator, not a government-guaranteed start date for a new wage.

Update, 30 October: the earlier Civique wording treated the position too broadly and omitted the speaker’s flexibility. The figure is now attributed to the named negotiator. The original interview text checked establishes his discussion of the agreement; the fuller wage-demand passage is sourced to the secondary account linked below.

Sources: ARISE News — https://www.arise.tv/gbenga-olowoyo-fgs-six-month-%e2%82%a670000-transport-intervention-a-good-omen-for-workers/ | Naija News, 28 October — https://www.naijanews.com/2026/10/28/%E2%82%A6500000-minimum-wage-demand-still-stands-labour-hits-fg/