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…Seek Acceleration Of CNG Mass Transit Projects, Broader Economic Measures
LAGOS – Barrister Emeka Iheonu, a Lagos-based lawyer and public commentator, has noted that the Federal Government’s approval of a N70,000 monthly transport allowance for public service workers from November 2026 to April 2027 represents a temporary compromise to stall impending industrial action.
He observed that the decision has nonetheless generated disagreement among unionists.
“It has exposed a massive rift between the Executive and Organised Labour, alongside a growing gap in how public versus informal sector workers survive Nigeria’s deep cost-of-living crisis,” he said.
Analyzing the matter, he said: “The allowance was agreed upon during a conciliation meeting between the Federal Government (FG) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
“The organised labour is, however, dissatisfied. The Trade Union Congress (TUC) completely rejected the allowance, calling it an unsustainable bandage on a gaping wound.
“They are demanding a permanent salary restructure that raises the baseline of the lowest-paid worker to N300,000 monthly.
“Unions have pointed out that previous temporary ‘wage awards’ were either ignored by state governments or left unpaid for several months, making fresh promises hard to trust.
“Options for the FG include fast-tracking the Minimum Wage Negotiation Committee, enforcing and subsidising Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Mass Transit, pressuring State and Local Governments to replicate benefits, and offering targeted direct tax relief.
“Workers in the private sector, including SMEs, traders, etc., who make up 80% of Nigeria’s workforce, have been surviving the current cost of living crisis by taking on secondary, remote, or flexible informal roles (e.g., social media vending, micro-logistics, or digital services) to stitch together multiple income streams that adjust to inflation faster than fixed corporate salaries.
“Informal traders, market associations, and transport unions heavily rely on traditional, self-organised Esusu or thrift cooperatives. Private individuals are forced to ration movements rigidly.
“Survival tactics include shifting to remote or hybrid work where private employers permit, carpooling, choosing cheaper public alternatives (like train routes, Keke-NAPEP lines or even using bicycles over private cabs), and cutting out non-essential travel entirely.
“In the absence of a robust state social security net, the most vulnerable citizens are dependent on institutional palliatives from religious bodies (churches/mosques offering free meals or subsidised clinics), diaspora remittances from family members abroad, and community-led mutual aid.”
For Barrister Olalekan Festus Ojo, a Lagos human rights lawyer, the N70,000 monthly transport allowance, running for six months from November 2026, is a welcome but inadequate gesture.
Ojo, the Managing Partner of Platinum & Taylor Hill LP, one of Nigeria’s leading law firms, said: “It totals N420,000 per worker, then ends.
“The current minimum wage is also N70,000, so this doubles a poor worker’s income for half a year before dropping them back to where they started.
“Labour wants permanent change, with the TUC proposing N300,000 for the lowest-paid federal workers and the NLC pressing for a far higher minimum wage.
“The Federal Government’s options are to begin the agreed minimum wage renegotiation immediately, with a published timetable, and to consider tax relief and a phased increase tied to inflation. It must also pay all arrears promptly.
He added: “For workers outside the public payroll, survival depends on targeted cash transfers, cheap credit for small traders and artisans, and lower transport and energy costs. Government cannot protect only those it employs.”
ANOTHER TEMPORARY MEASURE
Barrister Kenneth Udeze, the National Chairman of Action Alliance, stated: “The N70,000 allowance is a palliative, not a solution.
“Against union demands for a living wage review and full CNG mass transit rollout, N70,000 is modest and inflation will quickly erode it if temporary.”
Udeze suggested some options for the Federal Government. According to him, the government should make it a bridge to a structured wage award, not a replacement.
He also suggested that the government should fast-track CNG buses and rail to cut transport costs structurally. This is even as he advised it to also provide targeted cash transfer for informal workers.
Udeze stressed: “For non-public payroll workers who form the majority, survival depends on direct intervention – subsidized transport, market-level price control on food/ energy, and support for SMEs. Otherwise palliative for civil servants widens inequality.”
Dr. Victor Mathew, a security expert and human rights advocate expressed disappointment that the NLC views the proposed N70,000 temporary transport support as huge for its members despite the reaction of the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
Mathew, the Executive Director, Kingdom Advocacy Network (KAN) and CEO, Nextstep Security Organisation, stated: “This so-called transport allowance, to me, is cosmetic in nature and more importantly, politically motivated, aimed at getting votes from the beneficiaries.
“The hardship that has necessitated this intervention arises from the fuel subsidy removal.
“The removal of fuel subsidy announcement on the day of inauguration by the President without proper consultations with anyone and concrete thought-out remedies, plunged over 70 percent of Nigerians to be living below the poverty line and made many multidimensionally poor.
“This N70,000 is a political gimmick and tool to get votes. Other Nigerians who do not work for the Federal Government will go to the same market as the N70,000 beneficiaries, thereby making them very vulnerable to the higher inflation likely to occur with this transport allowance.
“I will advise the Federal Government to be more intentional and pragmatic in finding ways by which their interventions will benefit the greater majority.
“The State and local governments are getting very fat FAAC allocations. They too have to provide palliatives to the very vulnerable in the society.
“The CNG penetration rate is very shallow. The government at all levels, as a matter of policy, should get involved in the CNG project because this will impact positively on those who are in the private sector. Survival in Nigeria today is a Herculean task.
“Another veritable avenue which will impact positively on a large pool of Nigerians is the provision of CNG buses which can charge lower and cheaper fares, thereby dropping the high cost of commuting from one place to another.
“The government should, through a robust fiscal and monetary policy, bring down the inflationary rate, lift embargo on essential goods.”
GOING BEYOND TRANSPORT RELIEFS
Professor John Ebhomien, an economist and financial expert, said the proposed temporary N70,000 transport allowance is a stop-gap, not a solution — and unions know it.
Ebhomien, a former Consultant to the United Nations Office on Project Services and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), explaining further, noted that Labour is asking for a living wage that restores purchasing power lost to fuel subsidy removal and inflation, plus sustainable relief like CNG buses, housing, and food cost reduction.
He stressed that a temporary allowance helps for between three and six months, adding that such allowance is taxable, not pensionable, and disappears while hardship remains.
Ebhomien added: “That is why unions are skeptical — they fear it replaces, rather than complements deeper reforms.
The first option he suggested is for the Federal Government to blend short and long term, which is to keep the transport allowance as immediate palliative, while accelerating CNG mass transit projects.
This, according to him, will cut transport costs by 50% permanently.
Ebhomien also suggested a food-focused intervention. On this, he suggested that the Federal Government should partner with states for direct market intervention and farm inputs to crash food prices.
Another option he urged the Federal, state and local governments to consider is the wage table review.
On this, he urged the Federal Government to conclude a new minimum wage tied to inflation triggers, not ad-hoc allowances.
On workers outside public payroll, who he said are on the real majority, Ebhomien noted that about 85% of Nigerians are informal: traders, artisans, farmers, okada riders, private sector casual staff,who have no allowances.
For them, he urged the Federal Government to support emergence zero-interest micro-credit through market associations, not bureaucracy.
He said there should be free and cheap mass transit available to all, not just civil servants.
He called for availability of energy for SMEs, such as subsidised mini-grids for markets and clusters, stressing, “If palliatives stop at government payroll, hardship continues for the masses.”
Baba Aye, a veteran activist and labour expert, said the proposed transport allowance cannot be a substitute for a national minimum wage that is a living wage.
Baba Aye, a Co-Convener, Coalition for Revolution (CORE), stated: “The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has equally stated this, further informing that negotiations for a new minimum wage are starting already.
“Unfortunately, it is not even only those in the private sector or informal economy that are not explicitly included among those who will automatically get this N70,000 transport allowance.
“It is only those on the Federal Government’s payroll. States and local governments as well as private sector employers were only encouraged to follow suit.
“This further underscores the centrality of the struggle for our liberation as working-class people, but even to win such meagre concessions as this.”
A POLITICAL GAMBIT
On his part, Chief Martin Onovo, an Oil and Gas sector stakeholder and a seasoned politician has said that he supports a relief for the Nigerian workers, but not when they are being deceived by the Federal Government.
Reacting to the proposed temporary N70,000 transport allowance for workers vis a vis the demands of union leaders, Onovo, the 2015 presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP), said the proposed transport allowance is deceitful, unpatriotic and an ad hoc proposal.
He also maintained that the so-called transport allowance for federal workers, which is meant to run for only six months, was arrived at as a result of the desperation of President Bola Tinubu’s failed administration.
Speaking exclusively with Sunday Independent at the weekend, Onovo, currently Head, Movement for Progressive Change (MPC), noted that the Tinubu regime is currently owing many federal workers, while several workers’ unions have threatened to embark on nationwide strike.
Recall that the Federal Government recently announced the payment of N70, transport allowance for workers for six months vis a vis the demands of union leaders.
Onovo said: “It is deceitful because the timing and duration prove the intent. It is scheduled to cover the pre-election period and the pre-inauguration period.
“So, it is clearly designed to deceive federal workers prior to the elections.
“Jagaban Tinubu and his party, widely regarded as the worst regime since Amalgamation in 1914, have faced categorical rejection across the country during this campaign season.
“This allowance is a desperate ploy to buy the sympathy of Nigerian federal workers.
“It is unpatriotic because it serves no national interest. It is not driven by the welfare of workers or the economy, but solely by the partisan agenda of the ruling party.
“It is reckless and desperate because it is extra-budgetary, which has become the norm for this lawless regime. The IMF itself has reported over N8 trillion in extra-budgetary spending by the Tinubu regime.
“The desperation of this regime knows no bounds. From illegal extra-budgetary spending, to unleashing violence on opposition supporters, to weaponising the Police against the opposition, to planting AI-generated fake voters on the INEC register, to this short-term deceitful transport allowance, to sharing vehicles bought with slush funds to its paid attack dogs – the pattern is clear.
“Nevertheless, nothing will save Jagaban Tinubu from total defeat in the 2027 elections.
“The inflationary impact of the allowance has not been appropriately assessed. It is very important because, the allowance may make the same workers poorer if inflation overtakes it.
“In 1982, minimum wage was N125/month, at N0.75/$. That was $166/month. This 2026, minimum wage is N70,000/month, at N1,400/$. That is $50/month.
“So, it is clear that in real value, minimum wage has been decreasing in Nigeria due to bad governance that causes hyper-inflation.
“If we also check it with Purchasing Power comparison, we will confirm the same trend.
“Other workers will have to negotiate possible reliefs with their employers in their own particular circumstances.”
