Why TUC Rejects FG’s N70,000 Monthly Transport Allowance

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has said it rejected the Federal Government’s proposed N70,000 monthly transport allowance for public servants, because it believed that the measure may fail to ease workers’ financial difficulties as similar intervention introduced by the Federal Government in 2023 did not work.

TUC President, Festus Osifo, disclosed this during an appearance on Politics Today on Channels Television on Wednesday.

He said the labour union was sceptical about the effectiveness of the allowance.

Osifo explained that many federal government workers did not receive the N40,000 wage award introduced at the time, raising concerns about whether the new arrangement would adequately address workers’ welfare.

“We sincerely think that what has been put on the table will not address the plight of workers because the one they put on the table in 2023, it did not work,” he said.

According to him, incorporating the relief into workers’ salaries would provide a more reliable means of delivering the benefit, as salaries are paid regularly at the end of each month.

“But when it’s infusing salary as increment, the salary will come at the end of every month. So it’s just a matter of time,” Osifo added.

LEADERSHIP report the federal government had approved a monthly transport allowance of N70,000 for public servants for six months, beginning in November 2026, as part of measures to cushion the effects of rising living costs.

The approval was among the resolutions reached at a conciliation meeting between the Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Abuja on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.

The agreement also covered outstanding allowances, arrears owed to health workers, minimum wage negotiations and other issues relating to workers’ welfare.