BY EDMOND ODOK – In a fiery pushback by Labour leaders demanding a permanent salary increase rather than temporary palliatives, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has rejected the Federal Government’s proposed ₦70,000 wage award, slamming the figure as a superficial fix for a crushing economic crisis.
According to the Congress, instead of a temporary fix that vanishes under the weight of soaring inflation, government should urgently increase workers salaries and also implement outstanding agreements with health workers under the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU)
Not holding back, the TUC accused the Federal Government of failing to fulfill its 2023 wage award obligations to some workers and also neglecting a seven-month-old agreement on the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure for health workers under JOHESU.
It said rather than introduce relief measures that might not be implemented consistently and also inadequate to address the worsening economic hardship confronting Nigerian workers, the government does not need to wait for negotiations on the national minimum wage before increasing workers’ salaries
Rising from an emergency National Administrative Council (NAC) meeting in Abuja on October 8, 2026, the TUC issued a statement signed by its President Festus Osifo and Secretary-General N.A. Toro, stating that short-term relief measures have always failed to offer any real security to Nigerian workers battling sky-high living costs.
The message from Organized Labour to the government is blunt: Stop dangling temporary cash fixes, clear past debts, and deliver a genuine, sustainable pay raise the TUC’s statement delivered to the Federal Government through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) said.
For the Congress, the demand for an immediate salary review in response to rising living costs is urgent, noting that there was no legal ceiling on how much employers could pay their workers.
According to the statement, “The Federal Government should review increasing workers’ salaries. This was hinged on the fact that the government does not require the minimum wage to be negotiated before increasing workers’ pay, as there is no maximum wage law in the country.”
While also proposing that the Federal Government could raise the salary of the lowest-paid worker to N300,000 from the current N70,000 and apply the appropriate consequential adjustments to other salary levels, the TUC maintained that though negotiations on the national minimum wage remained important, they should not be used as a reason to delay urgent salary increases for workers struggling with rising food, transportation, healthcare and other essential expenses.
The Congress said having held consultative meetings with government officials, including the SGF, and rejected the proposed wage award, it is important to explain its opposition was based on the fact that previous wage award negotiated in October 2023 had not been fully implemented, raising concerns about the credibility of another temporary arrangement.
Furthermore, the statement said: “The wage award agreed between FGN and organised labour on the 2nd of October 2023 was to be implemented until a minimum wage was agreed in 2024 but was never implemented holistically,” adding that some workers were still being owed one or two months’ payments, while others had not received the allowance at all.
Also alleging that workers who received the award did not always get their payments monthly, with some experiencing intervals of one or two months and having to make repeated demands before receiving their entitlements, the Congress further claimed that more than 80 per cent of states and workers in the informal sector had not benefited from any form of wage award.
“How do we go back to the same wage award that never benefited all workers? How can workers be expected to trust fresh promises when previous obligations remain outstanding?” the TUC queried, insisting that a permanent salary increase would provide more dependable relief than temporary allowances, which it said had failed to reach workers uniformly.
While maintaining that “Negotiations of a new national minimum wage must not become an excuse for postponing urgent pay increment”, the Congress said beyond salary increases, federal, state and local governments must urgently introduce measurable interventions to reduce the cost of essential goods and services.
The Congress issued a stark reminder that this current economic crisis knows no boundaries, as it continues to crush state employees, pensioners, and informal workers alike, adding that preventing further collapse demands immediate government intervention: pay salaries on time, protect vulnerable jobs, and aggressively revive the productive sectors that drive real employment.
