Nigeria's TUC Rejects N70,000 Transport Allowance, Demands N300,000 Minimum Salary

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria has rejected the federal government's N70,000 transport allowance for workers, demanding an immediate salary increase instead. The labour organisation wants the lowest-paid federal worker's salary raised from N70,000 to N300,000, with corresponding adjustments across other salary grades.

The TUC said temporary wage awards cannot address the economic hardship caused by rising living costs. It argued that the government does not need to wait for negotiations on a new national minimum wage before increasing salaries, and that no law sets a maximum wage preventing such increases.

“Salary increases and not temporary and haphazard measures”

The position was set out in a statement signed by President General Comrade Festus Osifo and Secretary General Comrade N. A. Toro. The statement followed a meeting of the National Administrative Council in Abuja and subsequent consultations with government officials.

The congress said it formally conveyed its demands to the Federal Government in a letter dated October 8, 2026. Discussions with government representatives, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, failed to change its opposition to the proposed wage award.

The TUC also cited the alleged failure to fully implement the N40,000 wage award agreed on October 2, 2023. It said some workers remained unpaid for one or two months, while others received nothing, and that payments to beneficiaries were irregular.

It added that more than 80 per cent of states and the informal sector did not implement any form of wage award. The union also pointed to states that have introduced minimum wages above N100,000 as evidence that the Federal Government could adopt a similar approach.

The TUC insisted that salary increases, rather than temporary and haphazard measures, offer workers more reliable support amid rising prices for food, transportation, housing and other essential goods and services.