₦70,000 Transport Allowance: Tinubu Has Shown He Cares About Workers – Oshiomhole

By Reporter

Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for demonstrating concern for workers’ welfare through the Federal Government’s approval of a monthly ₦70,000 transport allowance.

Oshiomhole said the intervention reflected the President’s commitment to easing the economic difficulties facing Nigerian workers, urging citizens to acknowledge the administration’s efforts.

The former Edo State governor stated this on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he defended the Tinubu administration’s policies and performance.

According to him, the additional ₦70,000 would represent a 100 per cent increase in the earnings of a worker previously earning ₦70,000 monthly.

“I think this government is doing well. If a man who was on ₦70,000 now is given ₦70,000 addition that makes it ₦140,000 for him, it’s a hundred per cent increase. And if you know what ₦10,000 means for the real masses, you’ll appreciate that Tinubu has shown that he cares,” Oshiomhole said.

The Federal Government had approved the monthly transport allowance for workers across all levels for an initial period of six months, beginning in November 2026, following a meeting with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on October 27.

The agreement also provides for the settlement of outstanding peculiar allowances in three equal monthly instalments, commencing in November.

However, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) rejected the transport allowance arrangement, arguing that workers require a permanent salary increase rather than temporary financial relief.

Oshiomhole also used the interview to criticise the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, under which former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar served, alleging that it failed to guarantee regular payment of workers’ salaries.

Turning to the 2027 presidential election, the senator framed the contest as a choice between Tinubu’s economic reforms and what he described as the shortcomings of the previous administration.

He praised Tinubu for unifying the foreign exchange rates, while accusing the Obasanjo-Atiku administration of maintaining multiple exchange rates that allegedly created opportunities for preferential treatment based on personal connections.

Oshiomhole also criticised the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, accusing him of failing to provide a convincing alternative to Tinubu’s economic policies.

“Peter Obi has not offered any alternative. I’ve always said that Peter Obi is a trader; the logic of a trader is short-term turnover. A statesman that Tinubu represents thinks of the next generation,” he said.

While acknowledging the constitutional right of opposition candidates to contest the presidency, Oshiomhole argued that Tinubu deserved another term to consolidate the reforms already introduced by his administration.

He maintained that Nigerians should allow the President to continue after overcoming what he described as the initial challenges of governance rather than introduce what he termed a new political apprentice.

“Having gone through all the teething problems,” he argued, Tinubu should be given the opportunity to continue rather than “recruit a new apprentice.”