- Atiku faulted Tinubu administration for failing to pay full wage award arrears totalling ₦140,000 per federal worker.
- The former vice president said the federal government took 10 months to decide on minimum wage but still owes workers four months arrears.
The former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, has demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the national coordinator of the Federal Workers Forum, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.
Atiku made the demand in a statement shared on his X handle on Sunday.
Emelieze has reportedly been in the custody of the Department of State Services since his arrest on June 30 in Ibadan, Oyo State.
He was arrested over a planned nationwide protest slated for July 1, aimed at demanding payment of the minimum wage and other allowances.
Atiku described the continued detention as “an affront to democracy, a slap in the face of every Nigerian worker, and a chilling reminder of the authoritarian drift of the Tinubu administration”.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party accused President Bola Tinubu of removing fuel subsidy “hastily and thoughtlessly”.
He said the move triggered “an economic avalanche that has since buried the average Nigerian under the weight of inflation, hunger, and despair”.
“At the onset of the crisis, the administration promised to pay a wage award to federal civil servants as a temporary cushion pending the conclusion of negotiations on a new national minimum wage,” he said.
“That promise, like many others under this government, has become a broken covenant.”
Atiku said it took the administration “a staggering 10 months” to agree on a new minimum wage figure.
He said the delay implies that the Federal Government is owing 10 months of wage award arrears to federal workers.
“Yet, only six months have been paid and that too after a series of unfulfilled assurances and avoidable delays,” he said.
“As of today, the Federal Government owes four months of wage awards, amounting to ₦35,000 monthly, a total of ₦140,000 per worker.”
Atiku said several state governments have shown commendable responsibility in labour matters, but that the Tinubu-led Federal Government has been indifferent.
“The Tinubu-led Federal Government has distinguished itself by its callous indifference and utter disdain,” the ex-VP added.
On Emelieze’s detention, Atiku said the labour leader’s only “crime” was speaking up for workers abandoned by the state.
“We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Comrade Emelieze,” Atiku said.
“His continued detention is an affront to democracy, a slap in the face of every Nigerian worker, and a chilling reminder of the authoritarian drift of the Tinubu administration.
“Let it be known: Nigerian workers will not be silenced, intimidated, or forgotten. The economic hardship is real, the hunger is biting, and the government has a duty to act, not repress.”
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