ABUJA — The Federal Government has moved swiftly to avert a nationwide shutdown as it reportedly met two major demands of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), just days after the union issued a strike ultimatum.
The concessions include the reversal of the controversial 40 percent deduction from the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and the appointment of Opeyemi Agbaje as chairman of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
However, as of the time of filing this report, PenCom has yet to officially confirm Agbaje’s appointment.
Last week, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, gave President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a seven-day ultimatum to shut down the economy if the government failed to stop what it described as the “diversion of workers’ funds” and to properly constitute the PenCom board.
In a letter dated August 16, 2025, NSITF Managing Director, Oluwaseun Faleye, assured labour that no further deductions would be made from either contributions or investment proceeds.
Faleye explained that the deductions were initially based on a Federal Ministry of Finance circular issued on December 28, 2023, which mandated a 50 percent automatic deduction from the internally generated revenue of all Federal Government-owned enterprises.
He clarified that employers’ contributions to the NSITF — which are statutory liabilities meant to safeguard workers in cases of injury — had been wrongly treated as government revenue but were no longer being deducted following a March 2024 directive from the Accountant-General of the Federation. Some of the earlier deductions, he added, had already been reversed.
“We have been assured that this matter will be addressed. Both the Minister of Finance and the Director-General of the Budget Office, in meetings held in August 2025, committed that no further deductions would be made from either contributions or investment proceeds,” the letter stated.
Reacting, NLC Secretary, Christopher Onyeka, confirmed receipt of the correspondence, noting that the union’s executive council would review it before taking a final decision on the planned strike.
“The contributions to NSITF are intended to compensate workers in the event of injury. They are not government revenue and should not be used for fiscal purposes. Protecting these funds is our responsibility,” Onyeka stressed.
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