The President, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr Festus Osifo, yesterday said the organised labour is against the proposed tax bills by the Federal Government because it imposes heavy burdens on workers’s meager allowances.
Speaking during the 2025 May Day celebration in Abuja, Osifo criticised the bills for “disproportionately targeting workers while sparing the wealthy and corporate elites”.
He expressed strong opposition to the bill by the Federal Government, describing it as “anti-worker”. “The tax proposals were drafted without the involvement of workers.
“They impose heavy burdens on our meager allowances —housing, transport, and even medical benefits, yet fail to promote a progressive taxation system that ensures the rich pay their fair share,” he said.
Specifically, Osifo decried the plan to peg the minimum taxable income at N800,000 per annum, noting that the figure was only marginally below the newly agreed National Minimum Wage of N840,000 annually (N70,000 monthly). “How can you tax someone earning, approximately the cost of just eight bags of 50kg rice in a year?
