Nigeria threatened with general strike over Osun local government funds
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Leadership
The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council threatens a general strike if the Nigerian government does not release statutory allocations withheld from local governments in Osun State since February 2025. National Secretary Olowoyo Gbenga considers the workers' demand justified, in a statement cited by Leadership.
The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), which represents Nigerian public service unions, warned that the three-day warning strike by workers in Osun State could become a total strike or a mass protest if the statutory allocations due to the state’s local governments are not released. The council supports the mobilisation launched by the Osun State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), according to a statement signed by its National Secretary, Olowoyo Gbenga.
The JNPSNC said the funds have been withheld since February 2025, or about 21 months as of November 2026, and that their absence is penalising local government employees and their families. The council called on the Nigerian federal government and the authorities concerned to release the overdue allocations without delay, according to its statement.
The national council of public service unions had backed the Osun strike on 11 November. The mobilisation of Osun workers, which began on 9 November for three days, follows the NLC’s accusations against Abuja over the withholding of local government funds.
