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Claim: A post that has now gone viral on social media claimed that federal workers requested a salary increase as a condition to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 election.
Verdict: Misleading! While the workers did request a salary increase from the federal government, it was based on economic hardship, not on voting for or against the ruling party in the coming elections.
Full Text
With about four months left until the presidential and National Assembly elections, DUBAWA has seen an increase in manipulated content on social media, used to garner support for candidates or deliberately mislead the public.
Over the past few weeks, we have fact-checked several claims about election promises, crowds gathering to support candidates, and even statements made by some of these candidates themselves.
Recently, a post went viral on social media claiming federal workers had requested a salary increase to a minimum wage of N300,000. The claim added that the workers made fulfilling this request a condition to vote for the APC in 2027.
The text reads, “BREAKING! Federal Workers Demand ₦300,000 Minimum Wage, ₦1.5m Top Salary as Condition to Vote APC…” Other social media users shared the claim as seen here, here and here.
Going through the comments section of some of these posts, DUBAWA observed that other users believed the claim. One user, Oliver Nwachukwu, argued for workers’ rights to demand a salary increase but cautioned against the intent, noting that their votes are not for sale.
His comment partly reads,
“A ₦300,000 minimum wage should be demanded as a RIGHT — not offered as a bribe for votes! Workers must never exchange their votes for salary promises… Vote for performance, accountability and competence — not for who promises the biggest salary after years of poor results…”
Abraham Victor, another user, commented, “Very nice. Since fuel prices refuse to come down, then salaries should be increased to meet the current harsh reality of the economy.” Meanwhile, Elochukwu Onyeagba queried, “So those that are not civil servants should go and perish, Abi?”
Given its sensitivity at a time when the 2027 election is garnering momentum, DUBAWA fact-checked the claim.
Verification
A keyword search on Google led to several news reports of federal workers demanding a salary increase. According to the reports, the Federal Workers Forum (FWF) wrote to President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly, demanding an immediate review of the current wage structure for federal civil servants.
The workers proposed N300,000 as the minimum wage and N1.5m for Level 17 officers, citing a deterioration in workers’ purchasing power.
The forum highlighted the incomplete implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage approved in 2024, adding that the current economic realities have made even the current wage insufficient to cover the cost of living.
In media reports, the workers also pleaded with the government to ensure better security infrastructure in the country, provide a comprehensive social security programme, improve medical facilities, and establish federal intervention programmes for the treatment of cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
The workers did not link these demands to the 2027 election in their public statement.
Conclusion
The claim that federal workers demanded a salary increase as a condition to vote for the APC in 2027 is misleading. Though the workers requested a review of the wage structure, it was not tied to the election as alleged.