{"id":5353,"date":"2026-11-01T05:45:52","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T05:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/01\/n70000-fgs-allowance-splits-workers-as-economic-hardship-deepens-businessday-ng-2\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T05:45:52","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T05:45:52","slug":"n70000-fgs-allowance-splits-workers-as-economic-hardship-deepens-businessday-ng-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/01\/n70000-fgs-allowance-splits-workers-as-economic-hardship-deepens-businessday-ng-2\/","title":{"rendered":"N70,000 FG\u2019s allowance splits workers as economic hardship deepens \u2013 Businessday NG"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2026Raises vote-buying concerns<\/strong><\/em>\n<\/p>\n

For millions of Nigerian workers, the cost of getting to work has become another measure of how far their salaries can stretch. With petrol prices above N1,350 per litre and transport fares consuming an increasing share of household incomes, even a monthly salary increase offers little comfort when the cost of living continues to rise.\n<\/p>\n

It is against this backdrop that the Federal Government\u2019s agreement with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to provide public sector workers with a N70,000 monthly transport allowance for six months has triggered an unexpected battle within the organised labour.\n<\/p>\n

What was presented as an immediate intervention to ease workers\u2019 hardship has instead exposed deep divisions over how labour unions should negotiate with government, what constitutes meaningful relief and whether temporary payments can address the erosion of workers\u2019 purchasing power.\n<\/p>\n

For NLC President Joe Ajaero, the agreement represents a necessary intervention in a period when workers can hardly afford to wait for a broader wage review.<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0Nat\u2019l minimum wage: NECA insists on tripartism, adherence to ILO standards<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cNigerian workers were suffering; no intervention, nothing, and we have pushed with the threat of strike. We almost went on strike to get something, and then we got this,\u201d he said, defending the negotiations.\n<\/p>\n

Ajaero described the memorandum of understanding as a landmark achievement, arguing that the allowance provides immediate support while discussions over minimum wage implementation and other outstanding labour issues continue.\n<\/p>\n

His defence, however, has done little to reconcile the NLC with the Trade Union Congress (TUC), which accused the former of negotiating without securing a broader consensus within the organised labour.\n<\/p>\n

Led by Festus Osifo, the TUC rejected the arrangement, arguing that temporary allowances cannot substitute for a comprehensive adjustment of the national minimum wage. It also faulted the government over outstanding obligations from the 2023 wage agreement and delays in reviewing the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) for health workers.<\/p>\n

Ajaero dismissed the TUC\u2019s criticism, insisting that a union that did not participate in the negotiations could not reject the outcome.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe agreement was not signed by TUC. You don\u2019t kick against something you did not negotiate or ask for\u2026 You don\u2019t have the power to reject what a sister union negotiates,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

Relief for minority<\/h3>\n

Beyond the dispute between the unions lies a more fundamental question: how much of Nigeria\u2019s workforce will actually benefit from the intervention?\n<\/p>\n

The N70,000 allowance is targeted at public sector workers, leaving out the vast majority of Nigerians who earn their livelihoods outside formal government employment.\n<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0NLC presses FG to begin new minimum wage talks before ultimatum expires<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) labour force data indicate that informal employment accounts for between 92.2 percent and 93 percent of total employment in the country. This includes traders, artisans, transport operators, small business owners and other workers whose earnings are not protected by formal wage agreements.\n<\/p>\n

Within formal wage employment, public sector workers account for an estimated 25.6 percent, or about 3.23 million people, according to data. Private sector formal employees make up the remaining share.\n<\/p>\n

The implication is that the allowance, even if fully implemented, will reach only a fraction of Nigeria\u2019s working population. For informal workers, whose incomes are equally exposed to higher transport, food and energy costs, the agreement offers no direct relief.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIf public service workers receive N70,000 monthly for transport from November, what happens to private sector workers, traders, small businesses, transport operators and millions without formal jobs?\u201d Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the ADC, asked in a statement last week.\n<\/p>\n

This limitation is particularly significant as the World Bank estimates that about 140 million Nigerians, representing 63 percent of the population, live below the national poverty line.<\/p>\n

Although headline inflation has recently moderated, the reduction has not necessarily translated into cheaper goods and services. Petrol prices ranging between N1,365 and N1,450 per litre have continued to raise the cost of commuting, moving goods and running businesses, placing additional pressure on household incomes.\n<\/p>\n

Government intervention, political questions<\/h3>\n

But the interventions have attracted political scrutiny, particularly as Nigeria approaches the 2027 general election. Opposition figures have questioned whether the temporary payments and fuel discounts represent a coherent response to economic hardship or short-term measures designed to contain public discontent ahead of the election cycle.\n<\/p>\n

Some have described the allowance as a panic-driven publicity exercise, arguing that cash support for a limited category of workers does little to address the structural pressures confronting the wider population.\n<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0Nigerians spend 37% of minimum wage to cook pot of jollof rice<\/a><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe temporary intervention, with all due respect, bears the imprint of vote-buying,\u201d Ken Asogwa, national publicity secretary of the Labour Party, said, adding that its timing raised concerns about whether the measure was intended to secure political support rather than address the broader economic difficulties confronting the country.<\/p>\n

The dispute between the NLC and TUC therefore extends beyond the size of a transport allowance. It reflects a broader dilemma facing policymakers and the organised labour: how to deliver immediate relief without allowing temporary interventions to become substitutes for lasting improvements in wages and living standards.\n<\/p>\n

For workers in the formal sector, the N70,000 payment may provide some breathing space over six months. For millions of Nigerians, however, the cost of getting to work, feeding their families and keeping their businesses running remains largely unchanged.\n<\/p>\n

The deeper test of economic policy will not be how much the government can distribute temporarily, but whether it can create conditions in which wages, productivity and household incomes recover sufficiently for Nigerians to afford the cost of living without depending on periodic palliatives.<\/p>\n

\n

Related News<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTaofeek Oyedokun<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Taofeek Oyedokun is a correspondent at BusinessDay with years of experience reporting on political economy, public policy, migration, environment\/climate change, and social justice. A graduate of Political Science from the University of Lagos, he has also earned multiple professional certificates in journalism and media-related training. Known for his clear, data-driven reporting, Oyedokun covers a wide range of national and international socioeconomic issues, bringing depth, balance, and public-interest focus to his work.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Advertisement<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\t
\n\t\t\"Add
\n\t<\/a>
\n\t
\n\t\t\"Follow
\n\t<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

Businessday NG<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2026Raises vote-buying concerns For millions of Nigerian workers, the cost of getting to work has become another measure of how far their salaries can stretch. With petrol prices above N1,350… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}