Nigerian Federal Workers Demand Higher Salaries, but Not As Condition to Vote for Ruling APC in 2027

Nigerian federal workers demand higher salaries, but not as condition to vote for ruling APC in 2027

IN SHORT: In a letter to the president, Nigeria's Federal Workers Forum demanded a N300,000 minimum wage and a N1.5 million salary for level 17 officers. But there is no evidence that it made these demands a condition for supporting the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2027 elections.

"BREAKING! Federal Workers Demand ₦300,000 Minimum Wage, ₦1.5m Top Salary as Condition to Vote APC," reads a Facebook post from 3 September 2026.

The All Progressives Congress, or APC, is Nigeria's ruling party.

In July 2024, Nigerian president Bola Tinubu signed into law a bill raising the national minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000.

The Tinubu administration has seen a series of protests across the country over the rising cost of living.

Nigeria's next general election is set for 16 January 2027, when voters will elect the president and national assembly. Governors and state assembly elections will be on 6 February.

The claim also appears here, here, here and here.

But did federal workers demand higher salaries as a condition for voting for the APC in the 2027 polls? We checked.

Misleading claim

Africa Check ran a keyword search and found several news reports about salary increase demands by the Federal Workers Forum (FWF), a group advocating for the interests of federal government workers in Nigeria.

According to the reports, the forum wrote to Tinubu on 2 September 2026, asking that the minimum wage be increased from N70,000 to N300,000 and proposing a N1.5 million salary for level 17 officers.

The group argued that the current wage structure no longer reflected the country's economic realities and said the previous minimum wage increase had not been fully implemented.

However, reports of the FWF's demands do not refer to the 2027 general elections or salary increases as a condition for supporting APC.

The articles say the FWF urged the national assembly to press the president "to act before July 2027, when the statutory three-year review of the minimum wage would ordinarily fall due".

Therefore, claims that the federal workers demanded a pay raise as a condition to vote for the APC are misleading.

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Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. X @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org