The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong of breaching part of the terms of agreement that culminated in the suspension of strike threat giving an indication that the crisis trailing the fuel subsidy removal policy may not have abated.
It warned the Federal Government to either honour the essence of the agreement or face national industrial crisis.
General Secretary of the NLC, Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja, raised the allegations on Thursday in Abuja in a lengthy statement forwarded to newsmen.
He particularly accused Lalong of taking sides with a factional union of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
Ugboaja said, ‘In a shocking turn of events, the Federal Minister of Labour, Mr. Lalong, has thrown a spanner in the wheel of the implementation of the Labour – Federal Government agreement by his unmasked partiality in handling a critical item in the agreement which is the apparent government meddling in trade union matters by siding with people, who had illegally seized the National Union of Road Transport Workers’ (NURTW) headquarters with police support.
‘This group is now being encouraged to conduct its own delegates’ conference, both zonally and nationally, to confer legitimacy to their action. This flagrant act not only constitutes an egregious intrusion into the internal affairs of a union, in violation of ILO Conventions 87 and 98, but also represents a clear attempt to sabotage the recently ratified agreement between the labour movement and the Federal Government’.
In taking the minister to the cleaners, the NLC said “it is unfathomable that a Minister of Labour, tasked with safeguarding the rights and interests of diverse stakeholders in our industrial relations landscape, would opt to take actions that could undermine the very foundations of our collective engagement.’
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He described Lalong’s action as clearly morally reprehensible and legally untenable, saying it marks a disheartening departure from the expected standards of conduct within the nation’s industrial relations sphere.
‘Despite initial assurances from the minister regarding the illegal occupation of the NURTW’s national headquarters, the democratically elected leadership, led by Comrade Tajudeen Baruwa, has not been reinstated. Instead, the minister has chosen to endorse and legitimise this hijacking with the state’s backing.
‘This blatant power grab, subverting legality and moral integrity, is an affront to the principles of democratic governance.
‘It is now abundantly clear that the Federal Government never negotiated in good faith and, consequently, was never genuinely committed to honoring the terms of the October 2, 2023 agreement. This serves to affirm our earlier apprehension that the state was maneuvering to orchestrate a coup d’état against the democratically elected NURTW leadership, potentially alluding to the support of the government, as suggested by Minister Lalong’s actions and statements.
‘There is no doubt, both to us and the Nigerian public, about the government’s intentions regarding the implementation of the October 2, 2023 agreement. It is evident that, akin to the NURTW issue, the execution of other facets of the agreement may be jeopardised. Therefore, we take heed of Minister Lalong’s actions, which flagrantly violate an accord responsibly endorsed by all involved parties,’ Ugboaja stated.
Obviously pained by the unfolding events, the NLC scribe said the NURTW leadership crisis was engineered by the Federal Government through the police, aiding the Lagos group, who were members of the Lands, Parks and Garages Commission in Lagos State, not the NURTW, to forcefully occupy the union’s headquarters in Abuja.
According to the NLC, Comrade Tajudeen Baruwa’s leadership was democratically elected, adhering to union statutes, the national laws and ILO Conventions.
He went further to disclose that the election process began in May 2023 at the zonal levels, culminating in the National Delegates’ Conference of August, 2023 that inaugurated the current leadership of Comrade Baruwa in August 2023.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress firmly rejects Minister Lalong’s endorsement of the holding of illegal conferences. Any deviation from the spirit of our prior agreement on this matter forebodes grave consequences. The government cannot flout ILO conventions, the constitution, and our statutes with impunity and believe that all will be quiet.
“As Minister Lalong recklessly steers our nation towards an industrial crisis, we pledge unwavering resistance to all forms of malfeasance and misconduct within Nigeria’s trade union sphere. We will marshal our resources to ensure that political interference and lawlessness do not corrupt leadership selection processes within the trade union sector.
‘Minister Lalong having descended into the arena has stripped himself of the moral high ground and authority to continue midwifing the process of implementing the October 2 agreement. We will therefore be highly constrained to attend any meeting he calls for the purposes of the implementation of that agreement.
“A minister of labour is supposed to be an arbiter and as expected to provide professional guidance to the government on this matter instead he chose to contaminate the process with the same level of politics of the murky waters playing out in the larger polity.
“We implore the president to rein in Minister Lalong, and if this does not occur, we will conclude that the minister’s actions align with the president’s directives.
“Our allegiance is to upholding the rule of law and democratic principles, even if the minister chooses to disregard them. We will continue to stand by the democratically elected NURTW leadership, working with them as the legitimate representatives of workers in their sector, to thwart those seeking to contaminate the trade union sphere with political machinations. Every avenue will be explored to shield the trade union movement from this emerging irresponsibility.
“We steadfastly uphold the provisions of the October 2, 2023 agreement, and any continued non-compliance after 30 days will compel our relevant bodies to take necessary actions. The onus now rests with the government to either honour the essence of the agreement or persist on Minister Lalong’s perilous course, inevitably leading to a national industrial crisis. The blame for such an outcome will squarely fall on the Minister of Labour, Mr. Lalong,” Ugboaja noted in the statement.
Meanwhile, calls put through by our correspondent to the Director Press, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Olajide Oshodun, to react to the allegations proved abortive as he did not pick his calls up till the time of filing in this report.