The fragile alliance between Nigeria’s two primary central labor organizations hit a severe crisis on Monday, November 2, 2026, as the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, publicly questioned the commitment and legitimacy of Trade Union Congress (TUC) President, Comrade Festus Osifo, describing him as an “absentee president” who allegedly lives in the United States.
Speaking during a media engagement at the NLC Labour House headquarters in Abuja on Monday afternoon, Ajaero launched a direct critique of Osifo’s leadership, alleging that the TUC chief governs remotely and only returns to Nigeria intermittently to attend high-level union meetings before flying back abroad.
“He is an absentee president of the TUC; he doesn’t live in Nigeria. He comes in from the United States to attend meetings and rush back,” Ajaero declared. “You can’t be living abroad and then hold a position in a central-level organisation. I challenge him and the Nigerian Immigration Service to prove whether he has been in this country for four to five months this year.”
Ajaero contended that a labor leader who does not reside in the country cannot effectively understand or advocate for workers suffering under local economic pressures.
He revealed that attempts to harmonise positions between both unions on critical issues, including negotiations around labor palliatives and the ₦70,000 transport allowance, stalled after outreach efforts made as far back as June and July fell through due to leadership disconnects.
In a swift response delivered during a separate press briefing in Abuja later on Monday, TUC President Festus Osifo rejected Ajaero’s claims, dismissing the allegations as a distraction from structural flaws in recent joint labor negotiations.
Osifo pushed back against Ajaero’s handling of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) agreements, arguing that Ajaero mismanaged consequential salary adjustments by applying a flat rate instead of proper percentages, which he claimed left federal civil servants disadvantaged.
“You cannot negotiate for the TUC,” Osifo responded. “What Ajaero used the JNC to do is fundamentally wrong. I went to his office and told him directly that his approach was faulty. The meeting he references on palliatives was not a quorate Council meeting, and he does not speak for our members.”
The open confrontation highlights a widening ideological and operational divide between the NLC and TUC. Tensions between the two bodies have mounted steadily over conflicting strategies regarding engagement with the Federal Government on workers’ palliatives, consequential salary adjustments, and national economic policy.
With Ajaero calling on immigration authorities to verify Osifo’s travel records and Osifo accusing the NLC of undermining structural bargaining units, observers warn that the public dispute risks weakening organized labor’s collective bargaining power during crucial negotiations with the federal government.
