Labour Crisis Deepens as Ajaero Accuses TUC President Osifo of Diverting FG’s 90 CNG Buses

By Marian Alekhue

The deepening rift between Nigeria’s two major labour centres, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), erupted into a bitter public confrontation yesterday, with NLC President, Joe Ajaero, accusing his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo, of questionable leadership and demanding explanations over the whereabouts of 90 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses donated to the TUC by the Federal Government.

The explosive exchange, which also exposed sharp disagreements over the Federal Government’s N70,000 monthly transport allowance for public sector workers, played out during appearances by the two labour leaders on Channels Television’s breakfast programme.

The controversy followed the Federal Government’s announcement last Tuesday of a N70,000 monthly transport allowance for public sector workers as a six-month palliative under an agreement reached with the NLC.

The allowance was contained in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) issued after a meeting between government representatives and NLC leaders in Abuja.

However, the TUC rejected the arrangement barely 24 hours after its announcement, insisting that Nigerian workers needed a permanent salary increase rather than what it described as a temporary palliative.

The TUC’s rejection triggered a war of words, with Ajaero questioning why Osifo’s organisation would condemn an agreement reached through negotiations in which it did not participate.

Ajaero maintained that the N70,000 allowance was the outcome of collective bargaining initiated after the NLC issued an ultimatum to the Federal Government.

“When he (Osifo) said I did not negotiate N70,000 transport allowance, I did not know what he meant. We (NLC) gave the government an ultimatum and the government asked for four days to meet with us.

“At the resumed sitting after four days, some agreements were reached. After every collective bargaining, the product is the agreement. It was in that agreement that the issue of N70,000 was reached,” Ajaero explained.

But the NLC president went beyond the disagreement over the transport allowance, launching a scathing attack on Osifo’s leadership of the TUC and questioning his commitment to the Nigerian labour movement.

In a particularly explosive allegation, Ajaero described Osifo as an absentee president, claiming that he operated the TUC from abroad rather than maintaining a consistent presence in Nigeria.

“He is an absentee president of the TUC. He does not live in Nigeria. He comes in from the US to attend meetings and rush back. He serves on the board of PENCOM. You cannot be living abroad and be holding a position in a central-level organisation.

“I challenge him and the Nigeria Immigration Service to prove if he has been in this country for four to five months this year,” Ajaero declared.

The NLC president also raised questions over the 90 CNG buses reportedly donated to the TUC by the Federal Government, demanding accountability over their whereabouts and utilisation.

Osifo, however, responded with equal ferocity, describing Ajaero as a disaster to the Nigerian trade union movement and questioning his capacity to provide effective leadership.

The TUC president said the labour movement deserved better leadership, arguing that the standard of leadership in organised labour had deteriorated.

“I can boldly say that Joe Ajaero is a disaster to the trade union movement in Nigeria,” Osifo declared.

He insisted that the NLC had no authority to negotiate on behalf of TUC members, stressing that the TUC was an independent and recognised labour federation with its own affiliated unions and mandate.

Osifo also dismissed Ajaero’s allegation that he was based abroad, describing the accusation as shameful and revealing that he had remained actively involved in union activities before travelling to the United Kingdom.

According to him, before handing over as President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in August, he had moved from one workplace to another negotiating improved salaries and welfare packages for members.

He explained that his current stay in the United Kingdom was for advanced leadership and management training, insisting that his absence from the country did not amount to abandoning his responsibilities.

Turning the attack back on Ajaero, Osifo accused the NLC president of lacking the requisite negotiating experience and blamed what he described as poor negotiation skills for the inability of organised labour to secure better conditions for Nigerian workers.

“Ajaero has never led any union in Nigeria; that is why he does not understand the principles of negotiation. What I will recommend for him is training and retraining,” Osifo said.

The latest confrontation has further exposed the widening cracks within organised labour, raising fresh questions about the ability of the NLC and TUC to sustain a united front in negotiations with the Federal Government.

Although the two congresses have maintained separate identities and occasionally disagreed over strategy, their increasingly bitter exchanges threaten to undermine the collective strength of Nigerian workers at a time when the cost of living, declining purchasing power and demands for improved wages remain major national concerns.