Joint Negotiating Council dismisses TUC’s rejection of N70, 000 transport allowance
Lagos, Nov. 2026 – The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) has dismissed the rejection of the new N70,000 transport allowance for workers by the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC).
Gbenga Olowonyo, the General Secretary of JNSPSNC, dismissed the position of the TUC on the allowance in a circular to the leadership of the labour unions at the weekend.
He said the TUC had no authority to condemn the agreements reached with government, since it was not part of the negotiations that produced the agreement.
The trade unionist said that it was only the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the JNPSNC and Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) that secured the intervention after more than six hours of negotiations with the government.
“TUC was never part of the discussion, although it has an explicit right to express its opinion on any matter it is directly involved in, but not on what it was not part of at any stage of the engagement or negotiation with the Federal Government,” he said.
Olowoyo said any additional benefit secured for workers should be welcome and advised TUC to negotiate for higher transportation allowance for public servants.
He said the agreement, signed on Oct. 27, 2026, followed constructive engagement and exhaustive negotiations at a meeting presided over by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, with the NLC delegation led by its President, Joe Ajaero, and representatives of JNPSNC and JOHESU.
Olowonyo stressed that the rejection of the N70, 000 allowance would not affect the implementation of the agreement with the federal government.
He also expressed optimism that the state and local governments will be patriotic enough to concur with the agreement and implement it to ameliorate hardship of workers and dependants.
The labour unionist said the agreement also cemented implementation of long overdue 40 per cent peculiar allowance reflecting N70,000 minimum wage, which ought to have started since July 2024 when new minimum wage commenced.
