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NLC Declares 9 Governors Anti-workers, Queries Refusal To Implement Minimum Wage

The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said one of them was using the sponsor of the bill, Garba Muhammad, against the interests of workers.
Wabba accused a governor in the Northwest of failing to pay the entitlements of workers that were sacked.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) under the leadership of Comrade Ayuba Wadda, has declared nine governors as “anti-workers”.

Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari signed the wage Act in 2019.

The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said one of them was using the sponsor of the bill, Garba Muhammad, against the interests of workers.

Muhammad represents Sabon Gari Constituency of Zaria, Kaduna State, in the House of Representatives.

Wabba spoke at the Unity Fountain, Abuja while addressing workers before they took the protest to the National Assembly complex.

Wabba querried why some governors, who were represented during the process of negotiations refused to pay the agreed N30, 000 minimum wage.

Wabba said: “When the N30, 000 minimum wage was fixed, it was negotiated. Six governors represented the interests of the geo-political zones. We had MAN, SMSE, CCI, NECA, also on the table.

“Our demand was N66,000 – looking at the economic challenge and how the purchasing powers of Nigerian workers have dwindled, but through the process of dialogue and negotiations, including the ability to pay, on the negotiation table, we were reasonable and everybody agreed on N30, 000.

“That is how the report was submitted to Mr President. A bill went to the National Assembly, there was a public hearing and it was promulgated.

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We are then taken aback that some governors; let me mention that the governors are nine – because some of them gave us this information; they are only nine out of the 36 that are anti-workers, led by the governor of Muhammad’s home state.

Wabba accused a governor in the Northwest of failing to pay the entitlements of workers that were sacked.

The Labour leader also accused the governor of trying to force workers who have attained the age of 50 to retire.

The labour leader added: “The governor’s next move now is that every worker that has attained the age of 50 should be retired. Is that not an abuse of office? It is an abuse of office. I have seen the circular.

“If there are people that have to retire, they are our politicians. They must also have a retirement age. Anybody above 60 should not come near politics because there is the law of diminishing returns” he added.

(Source: The Nation)