BY TAIBAT UMMI YAKUBU
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has rejected the Federal Government’s proposed ₦70,000 monthly transport allowance for public servants, insisting that workers need an immediate salary increase rather than temporary measures to cushion the rising cost of living.
The labour organisation described the government’s approach as inadequate and called for a more sustainable wage policy that would provide lasting relief to workers struggling with the high cost of food, transportation, healthcare and other essential needs.
The TUC’s position followed the Federal Government’s approval of the transport allowance, scheduled to begin in November, as part of efforts to ease the economic pressure on public servants following the removal of the petrol subsidy.
The approval was among the resolutions reached during a conciliation meeting between the Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Abuja. The government also agreed to pay outstanding peculiar allowance arrears from May 1, 2026, in three equal monthly instalments beginning in November.
However, following its National Administrative Council meeting on Wednesday, the TUC argued that such interventions would not adequately address workers’ financial difficulties unless they were accompanied by a general salary increase.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, TUC President Festus Osifo, alongside the congress’s General Secretary, Nuhu Toro, said there was no legal or historical basis preventing the government from increasing workers’ salaries while negotiations over a new national minimum wage continued.
Osifo expressed concern that previous wage awards had not been implemented consistently, warning that the experience had weakened workers’ confidence in fresh government promises.
He recalled that the wage award agreed upon on October 2, 2023, was intended to provide temporary relief until a new minimum wage was negotiated in 2024. According to him, however, the arrangement was not fully implemented.
The TUC president also alleged that some workers who received the ₦40,000 wage award experienced irregular payments, with some receiving the money after intervals of one or two months despite the agreement for regular payments.
He further claimed that more than 80 per cent of state governments and the informal sector failed to implement any form of wage award.
Osifo questioned why workers should be expected to trust another temporary arrangement when previous commitments had allegedly not been fulfilled.
The labour leader maintained that a salary increase remained the most dependable way to improve workers’ welfare because salaries provide a regular source of income, unlike temporary allowances that may be limited in duration or implementation.
He warned that negotiations over a new national minimum wage should not become an excuse for delaying an urgent pay rise, arguing that the sacrifices made by Nigerian workers should not be met with measures that offer only short-term relief.
Beyond federal employees, the TUC said the economic crisis was affecting workers across all levels of government, pensioners, private-sector employees and people working in the informal economy.
It called on federal, state and local governments to introduce practical measures to bring down the prices of essential goods and services, ensure the prompt payment of salaries and pensions, protect existing jobs and tackle exploitative labour practices.
The congress also urged the government to revive the productive sector to create decent employment opportunities, stressing that any intervention must be inclusive, properly funded and backed by clear implementation timelines.
The TUC insisted that government responses to the economic crisis must go beyond announcements and translate into measurable improvements in the living conditions of Nigerians.
With the proposed transport allowance expected to commence in November, the disagreement highlights the continuing divide between the government’s temporary relief measures and organised labour’s demand for a broader and more sustainable improvement in workers’ earnings.
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