President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has rebuked the Trade Union Congress for rejecting the federal government’s newly negotiated N70,000 monthly transport allowance for public workers, questioning why the rival union is opposing a deal it did not negotiate.
Speaking in an interview, Ajaero defended the six-month intervention set for November 2026, while warning that demanding a N1 million minimum wage would collapse the Nigerian economy. He stressed that economic policy must prioritize restoring the naira’s purchasing power over wage increases amid rising fuel costs and high food inflation.
The dispute follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Federal Government and the NLC on Tuesday to grant all public service workers a N70,000 monthly transport buffer from November 2026 through April 2027.
However, the TUC rejected the deal within 24 hours, dismissing temporary relief as unsustainable and demanding an immediate baseline wage increase for federal workers from N70,000 to N300,000 instead.
Dismissing the TUC’s stance, Ajaero explained that the sister union had opted out of negotiations from the start, leaving the NLC to bargain independently.
He added that arbitrary salary hikes outside statutory frameworks are impractical, warning that without controlling rampant inflation, with petrol prices hovering above N1,300 per liter and food inflation near 20 percent, nominal wage increases will offer little relief to struggling Nigerian households.
