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• 3 unions disown negotiating council’s endorsement, back TUC
From Bimbola Oyesola and Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The crisis rocking organised labour over the Federal Government’s N70,000 monthly transport allowance escalated yesterday as President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, and his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Festus Osifo, traded insults and personal accusations over their leadership credentials, negotiating competence and commitment to workers’ welfare.
The confrontation, which played out during separate appearances on Channels Television’s breakfast programme on Monday, further exposed the widening gulf between the country’s two major labour centres, with Ajaero accusing Osifo of being an absentee president who resides in the United States, while the TUC leader described his NLC counterpart as a disaster to the Nigerian labour movement.
The disagreement also took a fresh turn as three public service unions disowned the endorsement of the allowance by the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) and aligned themselves with the TUC’s demand for a substantial salary increase rather than temporary relief.
Ironically, even as he defended the N70,000 allowance negotiated by the NLC, Ajaero acknowledged that the intervention could only provide temporary relief and would not address the structural problems responsible for rising transportation costs and the declining purchasing power of Nigerian workers.
The controversy followed the Federal Government’s announcement of a N70,000 monthly transport allowance for public sector workers for six months, an agreement reached with the NLC but rejected by the TUC, which insisted that workers needed sustainable improvements in their salaries.
Defending the agreement during his television appearance, Ajaero maintained that the allowance was the outcome of a legitimate collective bargaining process initiated after the NLC issued an ultimatum to the Federal Government.
“When he (Festus) said I did not negotiate N70,000 transport allowance, I did not know what he meant,” Ajaero said.
“We (NLC) gave the government an ultimatum and the government asked for four days to meet with us. At the resumed sitting after four days, some agreements were reached.
“After every collective bargaining, the product is the agreement. It was in that agreement that the issue of N70,000 was reached.”
The NLC president subsequently turned his criticism on Osifo, questioning his commitment to the leadership of the TUC and alleging that he had been residing abroad while retaining his position in the labour movement.
“He is an absentee president of the TUC. He does not live in Nigeria. He comes in from the US to attend meetings and rush back. He serves in the board of PENCOM,” Ajaero alleged.
“You cannot be living abroad and be holding a position in a central level organisation. I challenge him and the Nigeria Immigration Service to prove if he has been in this country for four to five months this year.”
Ajaero also challenged Osifo to account for 90 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses reportedly donated to the TUC by the Federal Government, raising questions about their whereabouts and utilisation.
However, Osifo, who appeared on the programme after Ajaero’s interview, dismissed the allegations and launched a counterattack, questioning the NLC president’s understanding of collective bargaining and his ability to negotiate improved conditions for Nigerian workers.
“I can boldly say that Joe Ajaero is a disaster to the trade union movement in Nigeria,” Osifo declared.
The TUC president said he was disappointed by Ajaero’s comments, arguing that the Nigerian labour movement had produced respected leaders whose conduct and negotiating abilities strengthened workers’ representation.
He maintained that the NLC had no authority to negotiate on behalf of TUC members because the congress was an independent and recognised national labour centre with its own negotiating structures.
Responding to the allegation that he resided abroad, Osifo explained that he had remained actively involved in workers’ affairs and regularly visited workplaces to negotiate improved salaries and conditions of service before handing over as president of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in August.
He disclosed that he was currently in the United Kingdom attending a programme on advanced leadership and management, dismissing suggestions that his international engagements amounted to abandonment of his responsibilities.
Osifo accused Ajaero of lacking the negotiating skills required to secure meaningful improvements in workers’ remuneration, arguing that the N70,000 transport allowance fell short of what employees needed amid rising living costs.
“Ajaero has never led any union in Nigeria that is why he does not understand the principles of negotiation,” he said. “What I will recommend for him is training and retraining.”
Meanwhile, Ajaero, speaking at the 2026 conference of the Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN), called on the Federal Government to place workers’ welfare, improved wages and purchasing power at the centre of its economic policies, arguing that the well-being of Nigerian workers was critical to national economic growth.
The conference had as its theme, “Workers at the Centre of Nigeria’s Political Transition: Defending Rights, Advancing Welfare and Building Economic Justice.”
The NLC president maintained that improving workers’ remuneration should no longer be viewed merely as a demand by organised labour but as a deliberate economic strategy capable of stimulating domestic consumption, supporting businesses and strengthening the economy.
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According to him, salaries paid to workers circulate through different sectors of the economy as employees spend their earnings on food, transportation, accommodation and other essential goods and services, thereby supporting traders, transport operators, landlords and small businesses.
Using the example of a worker earning N200,000 monthly, Ajaero explained that much of the income would be spent within the domestic economy, creating opportunities for other Nigerians and generating economic activities beyond the immediate beneficiaries.
“This is the kind of economic activity that can stimulate growth. Therefore, the government must recognise that improving workers’ purchasing power is not simply a labour demand; it is also an economic strategy,” he said.
Ajaero argued that realistic wages must reflect prevailing economic conditions, warning that salary increases would achieve little if they failed to keep pace with inflation, the declining value of the naira and rising costs of food, accommodation and transportation.
He urged the Federal Government and other stakeholders to commence negotiations ahead of April 2027, when the next national minimum wage review is expected to take effect, insisting that early engagement would prevent unnecessary delays and ensure that workers were not left waiting for improved earnings.
On the controversial N70,000 allowance, the NLC president maintained that although the intervention provided temporary relief, the government must develop sustainable alternatives to reduce the financial burden of commuting to and from work.
He advocated greater investment in CNG-powered vehicles and electric vehicles, arguing that long-term transportation reforms would offer more lasting benefits than temporary cash payments.
Ajaero also warned the government against using the six-month allowance as justification for weakening gains already secured by organised labour, insisting that future wage negotiations must take account of the additional income workers had become accustomed to receiving.
He further challenged the Federal Government to demonstrate greater accountability in managing national resources, questioning why a country endowed with crude oil and other revenue-generating opportunities continued to rely heavily on borrowing while citizens struggled to meet basic needs.
As the confrontation between the two labour leaders intensified, three public service unions joined the dispute, rejecting the JNPSNC’s endorsement of the allowance and aligning themselves with the TUC’s demand for an increase in salaries.
The unions are the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), and Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP).
In a joint statement issued on November 1 and signed by their presidents, Kayode Alakija, John Alli and Kamal Ibrahim, the unions said they were neither invited to any meeting where the issues contained in the council’s October 30 statement were discussed nor authorised anyone to speak on their behalf.
“You cannot speak for workers without their mandate. You cannot claim consensus without consultation. You cannot negotiate workers’ welfare while denying their unions the right to representation,” they declared.
The unions argued that the temporary transport allowance could not replace decent wages, fair remuneration and sustained improvements in workers’ living standards, particularly as transportation, food, housing and other essential needs had become increasingly unaffordable.
They accused the JNPSNC of consistently excluding constituent unions from decisions affecting their members’ salaries, welfare and conditions of service, alleging that even the council’s vice chairman, representing the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), was not consulted.
According to them, the association, which they said represented more than 300,000 public servants, was equally sidelined in the process.
The unions also faulted the council’s handling of the consequential adjustment arising from the previous minimum wage implementation, alleging that workers were shortchanged when a flat N40,000 addition was negotiated across salary grades instead of applying the appropriate percentage adjustment.
They argued that the arrangement undermined salary differentials and disadvantaged workers, demanding transparency and a review of the adjustment.
The unions further cautioned that the JNPSNC was a public service negotiating platform and not a third national labour centre alongside the NLC and TUC, warning against attempts to assume the representative responsibilities of the two congresses or undermine the independence of registered trade unions.
Among their demands were formal acknowledgement of their disassociation from the October 30 statement, an end to its presentation as the collective position of public service unions and recognition of their unions in relevant negotiating structures.
The TUC had earlier insisted that the Federal Government did not need to wait for another national minimum wage negotiation before increasing salaries, pointing out that some states had already raised their minimum wages above N100,000.
In a statement signed by Osifo and Secretary-General, Nuhu Toro, the congress proposed that the Federal Government could increase the salary of its lowest-paid worker to N300,000, with appropriate consequential adjustments for other grades.
It also demanded implementation of the outstanding Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) adjustment agreed with the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), accusing the government of failing to honour the agreement seven months after it was reached.
The JNPSNC, however, defended the agreement reached with the Federal Government on October 27, maintaining that the transport allowance represented a welcome intervention in view of rising transportation costs and the economic hardship confronting workers.
Its National Secretary, Olowoyo Gbenga, insisted that the TUC was not part of the negotiations that produced the agreement and should pursue a better offer rather than oppose the outcome.
The latest developments have widened the disagreement within organised labour beyond the adequacy of the N70,000 allowance to questions of representation, negotiating authority and leadership, with the two national labour centres maintaining sharply divergent positions on how best to secure improved welfare for Nigerian workers.
