The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, has challenged the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) over its authority to negotiate salaries and allowances on behalf of Nigerian workers without involving his organisation.

Osifo insisted that the TUC must be consulted and participate in negotiations affecting its members, describing the agreement on the N70,000 transport allowance recently approved by President Bola Tinubu as an aberration.

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He made the remarks on Monday, November 2, 2026, during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, amid an ongoing disagreement between the two labour centres over negotiations with the Federal Government.

The TUC president argued that the NLC could not independently represent workers affiliated with the TUC without obtaining its input or consent.

He maintained that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) regulations did not give one trade union centre the authority to negotiate on behalf of another without consultation.

Osifo acknowledged that the NLC had more affiliated unions than the TUC but argued that the difference in membership did not justify excluding his organisation from negotiations.

He challenged NLC President Joe Ajaero to produce any ILO regulation that authorised one labour centre to negotiate without the participation of the other.

The TUC leader also questioned the NLC’s interpretation of the Joint Public Sector Negotiating Council (JNC), arguing that the meeting where the N70,000 transport allowance was agreed upon did not constitute a formal council meeting.

According to him, the meeting did not satisfy the council’s membership and quorum requirements, adding that neither the Minister nor Ajaero was a member of the council.

Osifo further criticised the application of the N40,000 difference between the previous N30,000 minimum wage and the new N70,000 minimum wage to workers across the board.

He argued that the approach failed to provide adequate consequential adjustments for federal workers, whom he described as earning abysmally poor salaries.

The TUC president said the JNC should have met to consider and determine the appropriate consequential adjustments following the implementation of the new minimum wage.

He also disclosed that he had previously confronted Ajaero over the approach, insisting that the process used to determine the adjustments was fundamentally flawed.

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The disagreement highlights continuing tensions between the NLC and TUC over representation and the role of both labour centres in negotiations with the Federal Government.