By Nathaniel Irobi
The rift between the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) deepened on Monday after NLC President Comrade Joe Ajaero accused his TUC counterpart, Comrade Festus Osifo, of living abroad while holding a central labour position and being absent from the country.
Ajaero spoke on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Monday, in response to Osifo’s criticism of the N70,000 transport palliative agreement recently reached between the Federal Government and the NLC. Both labour leaders joined the programme via video call.
Osifo had faulted the deal, which provides a N70,000 monthly transport intervention for six months from November 2026 to cushion the cost of living crisis, arguing that the NLC had no right to negotiate on behalf of TUC members and that the TUC was against the agreement.
He described the move as a breach of labour relations, insisting that the NLC cannot negotiate for a body that is represented and has its own trade union.
On the substantive labour relations argument, Osifo maintained that under International Labour Organisation (ILO) regulations, there is no provision that says a trade centre cannot negotiate for its members, but that the tripartite system of labour, government and employers must be respected.
He explained that the list of TUC members is usually joined together with that of the NLC and submitted to the Ministry of Labour, which forwards it to the ILO because the Ministry collates all the lists and sends them, and that the portal will not be opened unless the list is updated, requiring both bodies to come together.
He said the TUC is not contesting that the NLC has more affiliates, about 60 compared to about 40 for the TUC, but that Labour Relations does not allow one centre to negotiate for a body that has a trade union without consultation.
“You cannot negotiate for a body that is represented. A body that has a trade union. You cannot negotiate for them on their behalf. It is not there anywhere. Yes, if we go to negotiations, I sit down, he sits down.
“We jointly agree. It should show me in ILO regulations where it is written that one part will go and negotiate without the other one being there, without the other one being consulted, negotiate for the members of the other one and sign an agreement,” Osifo argued.
Responding, Ajaero challenged Osifo’s moral standing to question his leadership style and the FG-NLC agreement.
“You can’t be coming; you can’t be living abroad and be holding a position at the central level. And I challenge him and the Nigerian Immigration Service to prove whether he has been in this country for four to five months this year. So it is not a question of, these are provable allegations,” Ajaero said.
He described Osifo as an absentee president of the TUC who, according to him, comes in from the United States to attend meetings and rushes back.
He added that apart from one virtual appearance from where he is based, Osifo has not attended meetings of boards where he represents labour, including the board of the National Pension Commission and the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.
Ajaero said Osifo’s criticism of his leadership style was untrue, claiming he had made several calls and sent messages to Osifo around June and July to harmonise their positions on the minimum wage issue, but he did not take the calls, saying he was in transit and would call back, a call that never came.
He said the phone records are there for verification and that he reaches out to Osifo more than the TUC President does to him.
On the N70,000 palliative, Ajaero questioned the handling of the 90 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses given by the Federal Government to both the NLC and the TUC to ease the transportation problem in the country, along with money to fuel them.
He said while the NLC moved around the geopolitical zones and commissioned its buses to ease transportation in line with the intent of the intervention, the whereabouts of the TUC’s 90 buses were unknown.
Ajaero also reacted to comments about his person, saying he had just won the Arthur Stevenson Award for the most courageous trade unionist in the world, the first time a Nigerian trade unionist is getting the award, and that he forwarded it to Osifo but got no comment, adding that the TUC president came to malign him.
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