Atiku Slams Tinubu Over Unpaid Wage Awards, Demands Release of Detained Labour Activist

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has launched a critique of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, accusing it of economic mismanagement, broken promises to federal workers, and authoritarian suppression of dissent.

In a statement on Sunday, Atiku condemned the government’s failure to fully honour its commitment to pay a ₦35,000 monthly wage award to federal civil servants, which was promised as a temporary relief following the controversial removal of fuel subsidies on Tinubu’s inauguration day.

“It took the Tinubu administration a staggering 10 months to arrive at a new minimum wage figure,” Atiku stated. “By implication, the Federal Government owes 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.”

According to Atiku, the federal government still owes four months of unpaid wage awards, totalling ₦140,000 per worker. He contrasted this with the efforts of several state governments, which he said have shown “commendable responsibility” in addressing workers’ welfare.

Beyond economic grievances, Atiku also denounced what he described as a troubling trend of repression under the Tinubu administration. He specifically pointed to the recent arrest and detention of Comrade Andrew Uche Emelieze, a labour activist who attempted to organise a peaceful protest demanding payment of the overdue wage awards.

“His only ‘crime’ was speaking up for workers abandoned by the state,” Atiku said, calling the continued detention “an affront to democracy” and a “chilling reminder of the authoritarian drift” of the current government.

He stated that “Nigerian workers will not be silenced, intimidated, or forgotten. The economic hardship is real, the hunger is biting, and the government must act not repress.”