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Tag: Wabba

  • NLC seeks end to fuel importation policy – Wabba

    NLC seeks end to fuel importation policy – Wabba

    The outgoing President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Ayuba Wabba, has said that the organised labour is seeking an end to the nation’s fuel importation policy as it will lead to a reduction in the prices of fuel.

    Wabba gave the hint on Tuesday in Abuja at the congress’s 13th Quadrennial National Delegates Conference.

    The theme of the conference is ”Building People’s Power, National Unity and Quest For A New Social Contract”.

    According to him, rather than seek a reduction in the prices of fuel, labour will seek a policy change.

    “The policy of importation was imposed on Nigerians in 2003 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and that is why the price model of products is based on importation,” he said.

    Wabba said that the Federal Government could remove the subsidy on petroleum products when it starts refining locally.

    “Refining locally will eradicate subsidy and corruption in the entire industry.

    “When we refine petroleum in Nigeria, it will create job opportunities for the people. We can organise youths in clusters and give them jobs and by so doing, 50 per cent of the problem is solved,” he said.

    The NLC president noted that oil was God’s gift to Nigeria and hence it should impact on the economy positively.

    “It is sad that people queue endlessly at the banks to access money and at filling stations to buy fuel.

    “Nigerians have been pushed to the wall concerning getting their money in the bank and buying fuel at filling stations; if the issue is not addressed within the shortest possible time, nobody can predict what can happen,” he said.

    On tax, the labour leader said that the government should prioritise tax to be self-reliant.

    “Correct tax payment will enable the country to remain a solid state because we have opened our borders and we have all manners of textile materials coming in.

    “In fact, this is the reason why the textile industry is going down,” he said.

    Wabba, however, pointed out that irregular power supply was a major factor affecting textile companies as the few existing one could no longer pay the exorbitant rates.

    On Public Service, he called for 100 per cent review of workers salaries, different from minimum wage increase.

    He said that salary review was implemented for political office holders in 2008, therefore, a boost in the salaries of workers would enhance productivity.

    He advised the Federal Government against privatising the health and education sectors as these were the fundamental rights of every citizen.

    “In some regions, 20 million children are already out of school, so, if education or health is privatised, people will not receive quality healthcare service and education,” he said.

    On security, the outgoing NLC president appealed to the government to do everything possible to address the challenge.

    He recalled that the late Musa Lawal, the General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), was among those killed in the Kaduna train attack as a result of insecurity.

    Wabba, who was elected president from the health union in 2015, thanked the workers for their support, adding that in his 35 years as a labour activist, he contested 13 elective positions and won all.

  • Arrest threats: Wabba dares El-Rufai, leads day three of NLC protests

    Arrest threats: Wabba dares El-Rufai, leads day three of NLC protests

    The National Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Ayuba Wabba on Wednesday led the third-day protest in Kaduna State.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the protest started on Monday following the disengagement of over seven thousand civil servants at the state and local governments by the Kaduna State government.

    The strike has paralysed critical sectors of the economy in the state and the state governor Nasir El-Rufai in reaction declared the NLC Chairman and other leaders wanted for economic sabotage and attacks on public infrastructure in Kaduna State under the Miscellaneous Offences Act.

    However, despite the arrest threats, workers again gathered on Wednesday morning at the state NLC secretariat amidst heavy security chanting songs of solidarity.

    The protest was done amid heavy security due to an earlier attack on the workers by armed thugs who hurled stones at them and injured many.

    The NLC President insists that the protest must go on despite the attack on the workers by the thugs.

    According to him, the protest is backed by the constitution which guarantees the workers the right to freedom of expression and movement.

    The NLC Chairman earlier on Tuesday accused the state governor El-Rufai of sponsoring thugs to disrupt the protest.

    Wabba said he informed the DSS after he received earlier information of the plan to disrupt the protest.

    “Today is a very sad moment in the history of democracy in Nigeria. Early in the morning today, we got credible information that El-Rufai has hired one Alhaji Hassan and some thugs to come and attack us.

    “While we are here, they came but thank God we have chased them away because we have the number. We are not thugs And We Are Not Using Thugs we are Nigerian workers,” Wabba said.

  • I’ll declare nationwide protests if Governors borrow from pension funds – NLC President

    I’ll declare nationwide protests if Governors borrow from pension funds – NLC President

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned state governors to stay away from pension funds or face massive protests.

    The warning came in a bit to stop state governors from borrowing N17 trillion from the pension funds purportedly for infrastructural development.

    The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, insisted that the governors have no authority over the funds.

    He made this known while speaking at the 47th National Executive Council meeting of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria, in Abuja on Thursday.

    The Nigerian Governors Forum had last week endorsed the proposal of the Chairman of the National Economic Council Ad hoc Committee, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, to borrow N17trn from the pension funds for infrastructural development.

    But reacting to the proposal, Ayuba said, “The pension is not for borrowing, pension money is the retirement savings of workers, it cannot be borrowed. It’s like money in your savings account that nobody can borrow.

    “You must go through the bank and in this case, you must go through the PFAs and their guidelines; even the guidelines they want to play down but to the glory of God, the board of Pencom commission has been constituted

    “I stand here to represent all of you (workers), we are not going to agree; less than 5 percent of the states are keying into the contributory pension, yet they want to borrow the money. The bulk of the money is from the federal government workers and private-sector workers; so how do you want to borrow from where you have not sown?”

    Ayuba also noted that over 18 state governments were delaying the implementation of the new national minimum wage.

    He added that it was unheard of that the same governments would want to borrow the workers’ pension.

    “It’s not free money, and let me sound a bit of warning: any day that we hear the pension fund, our money has been borrowed, I will declare a protest and everybody is going to be on the street to protect our hard-earned money.

    “The money belongs to workers, we contribute that money so that when we retire, we can have something for retirement, so they have no say whatsoever; both the principal and the capital belong to us,” he said.

    Commenting on the fuel pump price, Wabba argued that it should not be determined by the market forces “whose sole aim was targeted at making profits even at the detriment of the masses.”

    He noted, “Anything you leave to market forces, citizens will suffer because the primary focus of governance is actually to defend the interest and welfare of our workers and even the citizens and therefore when you leave it to market forces, it is then about profit.”

    The National President, Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, Biobelemoye Josiah, condemned the Federal Government’s alleged involvement in scuttling strike actions through the use of some non-governmental organisations, stressing that workers have the right to embark on industrial actions to drive home their demands.

    He said, “In a plethora of cases, the courts have affirmed the right of the workers to embark on strike. Strike is a legitimate weapon available to the trade unions to ventilate their grievances, especially when the provision in section 41 of the Trade Dispute Act bordering on the number of days has been compiled with.

    “I would, therefore, appeal to the Federal Government to enrich our industrial relations practice through the interplay of the relationship between the management (Government) and the workers (Trade Unions) rather than scuttling the relationship through a third party interloper represented by the NGOs.”

  • NLC President, Wabba wins second term unopposed

    Mr Ayuba Wabba, President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has promised to double his efforts in protecting the interest and rights of the Nigerian workers.

    Wabba made the promise in his acceptance speech, which he read at the end of the 12th Delegates Conference of NLC on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Wabba was returned as the President of NLC unopposed after a unanimous decision by delegates at the conference.

    All the newly elected officers would be in charge of the workers’ union between 2019 and 2023.

    According to him, the labour leaders would double their efforts to ensure that the rights and interests of workers are protected.

    “The board will respect the will of members and consolidate on what we are doing.

    “We will continue to conform to the tradition of the union and speak the truth to those in power. The daily challenges of workers at work place will be confronted.

    “We have been able to work assiduously in the past four years and we will move forward to build workers poser. I assure our members of our commitment and dedication to the resolutions of the conference,” he said.

    The NLC president called on the political class to imitate the rancour-free election of the NLC.

    He also said that it was important to address the global imbalance where more people live below poverty line in spite of the growing global wealth.

    Among those returned are first deputy president, Amaechi Asuguni; second deputy president, Muhammed Idris; and third deputy president, Najim Yasim.

    Others are National Treasurer, Ibrahim Khalil; First Vice president, Abdulrafiu Adeniji; Second Vice president, Peter Adeyemi; Third Vice president, Lawrence Amaechi; Fourth Vice president, Oyelekan Lateef, Fifth Vice president, Mercy Okezie and National Trustee, Adewale Adeyanju.

    Also elected are financial secretary, Mustapha Adamu; first internal auditor, Simon Ankavar; second internal auditor, Benjamin Anthony; third internal auditor, Olatunji Babatunde; first ex-officio member, Funmilayo Issa; and second ex-officio member, Comfort Okoh.

  • Levers of global economies in wrong hands – Wabba

    …says minimum wage not enough to cater for workers’ welfare

    President of the International Trade Union Confederation, Ayuba Wabba on Tuesday said the global economy is witnessing constant decline because the levers of most economies were in the wrong hands.

    Wabba who also doubles as President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) made this known on Tuesday in the address he delivered at the 18th Congress of the Italian General Confederation of Labour.

    A copy of the address was made available to newsmen in Abuja by NLC’s Head of Information and Public Affairs, Benson Upah.

    Wabba also noted in his address that the minimum wage can barely provide basic necessities of life for workers in many parts of the world, noting that one per cent of the world population now controls half of the global wealth.

    The address was read in Italy as the Federal Government in Nigeria adopted the recommendation of the Council of State meeting which advised that instead of paying N30,000 as minimum wage at the federal and state levels, N27,000 should be considered as minimum wage in states while federal workers should be paid N30,000.

    The recommendation is contrary to the agitation of organised labour after a tripartite committee had recommended N30,000 as minimum wage at all levels. NLC and other trade unions have already rejected the Council of State recommendation.

    In his address, Wabba said fundamental rights of workers were under attack because economies of most countries were in the wrong hands, stressing that in Nigeria, insecurity and corruption forced people to embrace harsh migration plan that resulted in humiliation.

    He said, “In my own country we face poverty, conflict, insecurity and corruption. Many people flee the place, where they were born to seek a better life in Europe, and are all too often get turned away at gunpoint, prevented from landing, treated with utter disrespect.

    “Fundamental rights are under attack in many countries. The levers of the global economy are in the wrong hands. The global economic system and the current model of globalisation disproportionately benefit capital owners. The consequences for billions of people are poverty, insecurity and the loss of hope and trust. Given paucity of investments to produce a recovery that benefits workers, the workers and their unions are extremely challenged.

    “Our rights to bargain collectively, the right to strike, even freedom of association are under attack by greedy employers and governments who put profit before people.

    “Inequality is at historic levels and wages are not keeping pace. Some 84 per cent of the world’s people say minimum wage is not enough to live on. More than 70 per cent of the world’s people have little or no social protection. All of these go side by side with the consequences of technology and the further erosion of direct employment and decent work.”

  • N760.17b Paris Club refund: We’ll expose governors who lavish funds on mundane things – Wabba

    The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has promised to name governors who wasted the first and second tranche of the Paris Club refund released to them by the Federal Government.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that so far the federal government has so far released N760.17 billion to the governors.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that President Muhammadu Buhari recently expressed his displeasure at how the funds was poorly utilized by the governors.

    Angered by the refusal of the governors to clear workers’ backlog of salaries and pension despite the release,the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba on Tuesday said President Buhari should demand that the governors account for the money earlier received before any further release is made.

    Wabba said it was unfortunate that despite their promises to pay workers’ salaries and pension, the governors refused to live by their word.

    He said that some of the governors had even refused to disclose how much they received and how it was spent.

    Wabba accused the Chairman of the Governors Forum, Zamfara State Governor Abdulazeez Yari, who made a commitment on behalf of his colleagues of not spending the money judiciously.

    He said the President was reacting to its letter asking him not to approve the release of the third and last tranche of the fund to the governors until they account for what they have received.

    Wabba said: “It is our letter he was reacting to. At our CWC meeting, we called on him not to release the last tranche of the Paris Club refund to the states because the governors have not kept their word.

    “You remember that Chairman of the Governors Forum alluded to the fact that they are committed to using the money to address the liability of pension and salaries. Unfortunately, the Chairman of the Governors Forum has not lived up to those words.

    “As you are aware, our workers in Zamfara have shut down the state. He himself who made the pronouncement could not honour the words that he pronounced on behalf of his colleagues. That is to show the level of deceit that is actually in the system and that is why we decided to write to the President to ensure that there is a level of accountability to show that he is actually on the same page with the governors.

    “Before the second tranche was released, they made commitments and used the payment of workers salaries and pensions as a bait to get the President to approve and get the money across to them. But immediately they got the money, majority of them diverted the money. Right now, we have a standard data as to what the situation is in all states of the Federation.

    “Let me make the point that some has actually judiciously untilised their own, but some states… have refused to make available how much they received.”

    Wabba recalled that at the Kogi State House of Assembly, a member raised a motion to demand accountability on the Paris Club refund “and that resulted in the chaos we witnessed in the Assembly. That member had his head broken and the Speaker removed. That is the level of decay that is prevailing in some of those states.

    “It means that Mr President is in touch with the real issues that is happening in every state. The fact that he is aware that some of the governors have not utilised the money in the direction that he appealed to them means that he is aware of what is happening.”

    The NLC chief spoke also on the use of consultants to get the refund.

    He said: “We learnt that about 5 per cent was deducted from source and used for the payment of consultants which eventually ended up in people’s pockets. We are also aware of those who diverted the money to build hotels and pay mortgages. It is really a bad situation.

    “If we must fight corruption, those issues are issues that we must follow up and fight to their logical conclusion.

    “In some of the states, our members used the Freedom of Information Act to demand how these money was utilised, but there has been no responses and I think that is most unfortunate. We have records of those states. We have also promised that we are going to name and shame those states that have not adequately utilized the bailout.

    “We are working on the data and once they are ready, we will make them, available and we are going to engage states that have not transparently utilised the bailout fund for the purpose that it was meant for and for the benefit of their people. That is where we are now… that is why the situation of workers have not improved.

    “ Let me emphasied that some states have done extremely well and we are going to point this out very clearly.”

     

  • 2019: Get your voters’ card to kick out anti-labour politicians, Wabba urges workers, pensioners

    The President of Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba has urged pensioners and active workers who are yet to get their voters card to do so on time as that (the voters card) remain the only veritable tool to kick out politicians who operate anti-labour policies.

    Wabba said this when he paid a familarisation visit to the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) National Secretariat on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The labour leader said this was imperative as governors and other political office holders with anti-labour tendencies were on the increase.

    He said the political elites had the notion that pensioners and workers do not have any political value, adding that it was the reason why the payment of salaries and pensions were not being taken seriously.

    “A lot of politicians say workers and pensioners do not have political value and therefore it is a big challenge, they even claim that we do not have voters card.

    “We are going to embark on a vigorous campaign for workers and pensioners to register and obtain their voters card.

    “Because a process has been opened for workers, pensioners and their families to acquire voters’ card, where it is missing, revalidate it. We have the number.

    “In NLC alone, we are over eight million Nigerians without the pensioners and so, we have the number to challenge any politician and make them realise that we are a force to reckon with.’’

    According to him, let us awaken this consciousness and make sure we do what is right because we also have to engage the process and be able to represent our members.

    “Because the notion also is that we are very comfortable and that we do not have voters card. It is very important for us to engage the system,’’

    He called on the leadership of the NUP to as a matter of urgency issue a circular to pensioners in the 744 Local Government Areas to ensure that they have their voters’ card.

    “Even if a pensioner is on a wheel chair, he must get his card because we must also exercise our value and contribute to the system for our benefits.’’

    The NLC president described as unfortunate and a challenge that workers and pensioners were continually agonised as some states do not pay them their entitlement regularly, adding that it must be stop.

    “The constitution has made it very clear that pension is a right after working diligently for the service of your nation for 35 years and having attained the mandatory age of 60.

    “Retirement ought to be sweet, but in most cases retirement these days is not sweet, you are always on one verification or the other.’’

    Wabba added that NLC’s National Executive Council would meet to deliberate on a campaign strategy that would ensure that all workers, pensioners, their family, and dependents have a voter’s card.

    He also assured the NUP that the problem of minimum wage for workers and pension would be tabled before governments at all levels.

    Responding, Mr Abel Afolayan, NUP President decried the non-payment of the arrears of 33 per cent pension increase since 2010.

    According to Afolayan, civilian pensioners are being owed 18 months arrears, while the police pensioners are owed 39 months.

    “To be frank with you, some pensioners go home monthly with as low as N4,000 only. This is highly unfair and greatly inhuman.

    “We also have issues with some states governments over slash in pension arrears, among other issues and we will want you to assist us,’’ he said.