Ajaero and Osifo clash over who can negotiate the ₦70,000 transport allowance

The two biggest labour centres in Nigeria are publicly at odds over who has the right to negotiate workers' pay and allowances with the Federal Government. The disagreement centres on the ₦70,000 transport allowance approved for workers at all levels for six months.

NLC President Joe Ajaero and TUC President Festus Osifo made their cases separately on Channels Television's The Morning Brief on Monday.

What each side says

Ajaero argued that the Nigeria Labour Congress can negotiate alone, based on what he called the principle of most workers' representatives under the International Labour Organisation (ILO). He said the Trade Union Congress can only negotiate alongside the NLC.

"TUC can negotiate along with NLC but NLC can negotiate alone based on the principle of most workers representatives of the ILO," Ajaero said.

He said the TUC is required to send its proposals through the NLC for onward submission to the ILO, and that the Ministry of Labour would not deal with the TUC on its own.

Osifo rejected that position. He said nothing in ILO rules stops a trade centre from negotiating for its own members, and challenged Ajaero to produce a document showing otherwise.

"You cannot negotiate for a body that is represented, for a body that has a trade union," Osifo said.

He said the NLC has about 60 affiliates and the TUC about 40, but that the larger number does not give the NLC the right to speak for the TUC.

How the allowance came about

Ajaero said the NLC issued the government an ultimatum and was preparing to start an action when the government asked for four days to meet. He said the ₦70,000 allowance came up after that meeting.

Osifo disputed that the meeting amounted to a decision of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNC). He said neither the minister nor Ajaero is a member of the council, and that its members were not present.

He also criticised how the minimum wage rise was applied. He said the ₦40,000 difference between the old ₦30,000 wage and the new ₦70,000 was spread across the board instead of the JNC working out consequential adjustments, which he said has left federal workers poorly paid.

Ajaero, for his part, said only one of the eight unions in the joint council belongs to the TUC, with the other seven in the NLC. He also said any new minimum wage demand needs a government negotiation committee and wider consultation first.

For ordinary workers, the practical question is who speaks for them when pay and allowances are on the table. With the two centres openly divided, that answer is not settled.

What happens next

Neither side has announced a next step. The sources do not say when the ₦70,000 allowance will be paid or whether the disagreement will delay it.