The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has accused his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Festus Osifo, of being an absentee chief who allegedly lives within the United States and solely returns to Nigeria to attend conferences.
Ajaero challenged Osifo to show his presence within the nation, urging him and the Nigeria Immigration Service to ascertain whether or not the TUC president had spent 4 to 5 months in Nigeria this yr.
The NLC president made the allegations whereas talking on Morning Brief, a programme on Channels Television, on Monday, amid disagreements over management and cooperation between the 2 labour centres.
“He is an absentee president of TUC; he doesn’t live in Nigeria. He comes in from the U.S. to attend meetings and rush back,” Ajaero stated.
He argued that anybody occupying a management place in a central labour organisation shouldn’t be based mostly overseas, insisting that his allegations may very well be verified.
“You can’t be living abroad and be holding a position in the central-level organisation, and I challenge him and the Nigerian Immigration Service to prove if he has been in this country for four to five months this year,” he stated.
Ajaero additionally dismissed ideas that he had failed to keep up communication with Osifo, saying he had repeatedly tried to achieve his counterpart to debate points affecting Nigerian staff, together with the minimal wage.
According to him, he despatched messages to Osifo round June or July searching for to harmonise their positions on the minimal wage difficulty, however the discussions didn’t progress.
“I’ve been trying to reach him. I sent him messages around June or July. I sent messages that we need to harmonise our position, and when I finish, I’ll forward it to you on this issue of minimum wage,” he stated.
He added that Osifo would generally say he was in transit and promise to name again, however they might in the end fail to debate the problems.
Ajaero maintained that he had made a number of makes an attempt to contact the TUC president, insisting that the accusation that he failed to achieve out to his counterpart was unfounded.
“If he says that my leadership style is that I don’t reach out to him, I don’t think that is actually true. It’s not true. I call him more,” he stated.
The NLC president additional questioned Osifo’s alleged attendance at conferences of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) board, claiming that, aside from one digital look, he had not been seen collaborating in its actions.
“He has not been seen there,” Ajaero stated, with out offering additional particulars to substantiate the declare in the course of the interview.
Ajaero additionally defended his management document in opposition to criticism from Osifo, saying his counterpart had not adequately acknowledged his efforts to keep up communication and cooperation between the 2 labour centres.
He stated he had forwarded details about receiving the Arthur Svensson International Prize for Trade Union Rights to Osifo however didn’t obtain a response.
The award recognises commerce unionists and organisations for his or her work in defending commerce union rights.
Ajaero described the popularity as a major achievement for Nigerian organised labour, saying he was the primary Nigerian commerce unionist to obtain the award.
“As of today, I hold the Arthur Svensson Award for the most courageous trade unionist in this world. So he can’t come here, and when that happened, I only then realised the whole issue. I forwarded it to him; he didn’t make a comment, and that’s the first time a Nigerian trade unionist is getting that award,” he stated.
He maintained that his makes an attempt to interact Osifo on labour issues contradicted claims that his management type had undermined communication between them.
LEADERSHIP reviews that the latest disagreement between the 2 labour centres adopted the Federal Government’s determination to approve a ₦70,000 month-to-month transport allowance for public servants for six months, starting in November 2026, alongside plans to pay excellent peculiar allowance arrears in instalments.
While the NLC defended the association as an end result of negotiations with the federal government, the TUC rejected the momentary reduction, arguing that staff wanted a direct wage enhance and the implementation of excellent labour agreements.
The The dispute subsequently escalated right into a public change, with Ajaero insisting that the TUC couldn’t reject an settlement it had not negotiated. In contrast, Osifo disputed Ajaero’s account of how the allowance was secured, exposing divisions between Nigeria’s two main labour centres over staff’ welfare and engagement with the Federal Government.
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