The leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Wednesday rejected the federal government’s plan to grant a six‑month N70,000 monthly transport allowance to public workers, insisting instead on an immediate salary uplift.
Key facts:
- The government approved a N70,000 transport allowance for civil servants to start in November, intended to soften the impact of rising living costs.
- The same meeting also cleared the payment of outstanding peculiar‑allowance arrears from May 1 2026 in three equal instalments beginning in November.
- The TUC was not a signatory to the memorandum of understanding that recorded the agreements.
- TUC President Festus Osifo warned that temporary wage awards are unsustainable and called for a permanent pay rise.
- The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) protested its exclusion from the allowance, urging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene.
What was the government’s proposal?
The federal administration, represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Ministry of Labour and Employment, offered a N70,000 monthly transport stipend for six months, without attaching it to a formal wage award. The proposal emerged from a conciliation session in Abuja attended by senior officials, including the Director‑General of Budget Timi Yakubu and Minister of Labour Maigari Dingyadi.
Why did the TUC reject the offer?
Speaking after the National Administrative Council meeting, TUC President Festus Osifo, flanked by General Secretary Nuhu Toro, argued that there is no legal or historical barrier preventing the government from granting an immediate wage increase. He highlighted irregularities in the implementation of the 2023 wage award, noting that many workers received only intermittent payments of N40,000 and that over 80 % of states and the informal sector never applied any wage award at all.
What are the broader concerns of organised labour?
The TUC stressed that the cost‑of‑living crisis affects not only federal employees but also state and local workers, pensioners, private‑sector staff and informal‑sector earners. It called on all levels of government to adopt measurable actions to lower the price of essential goods, ensure timely salary and pension payments, protect jobs, curb exploitative practices and revive productive sectors to generate decent employment.
How have pensioners responded?
The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) condemned their exclusion from the transport allowance, labeling it “unjust.” President Godwin Abumisi appealed to President Tinubu for equitable treatment, pointing out that retirees also face soaring transport, food and healthcare costs. The union also reminded the government of an unfulfilled promise to pay a N25,000 monthly palliative to vulnerable households, including pensioners, under the October 2 2023 memorandum of understanding.
What other relief measures have been announced?
Since the removal of the fuel subsidy, the Tinubu administration has introduced several temporary interventions: a N35,000 monthly wage award for federal workers (October 2023), a rise of the national minimum wage to N70,000, and an increase of the NYSC allowance from N33,000 to N77,000. The government also launched the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative to lower transport costs, deploying about 670 CNG buses nationwide and targeting five million households with a clean‑cooking programme by 2030.
What are the criticisms of these measures?
Analysts such as Dr. Marcel Okeke argue that the interventions are “too little, too late,” pointing out implementation gaps, delayed payments and the absence of a coherent economic blueprint. Civil‑society voices, including the International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights, urge the government to extend relief beyond civil servants to informal workers, petty traders and vulnerable families, and to publish transparent reports on eligibility, funding and timelines.
What is the way forward?
The TUC and other labour bodies maintain that any negotiation on a new national minimum wage must not become a pretext for postponing urgent pay rises. They demand inclusive, well‑funded policies with clear implementation schedules, and call on the government to address fuel pricing, inflation and the broader cost‑of‑living crisis through structural reforms rather than short‑term palliatives.