The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, says it will boycott the 2019 general election if the N30,000 minimum wage bill was not transmitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Emmanuel Ademokun, Chairman, Edo chapter of the NLC, spoke on Tuesday in Benin, when he led a protest march to Government House, to press for the payment of the new minimum wage.
Mr Ademokun said Nigerian workers were the least paid in the world, noting that, “it must be N30,000 minimum wage on or before election or no election.”
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“We are here to express our grievances over the non-transmission of the N30,000 minimum wage to the National Assembly, because we are aware that the bill has been presented to the president.
“Workers must decide who will govern them, “he said.
He said the union had no issue with Edo Government, as regards workers welfare, noting that the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, had promised to pay the N30, 000 amount, when passed into law.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Ademokun presented a copy of the union’s notice of impending strike to Obaseki.
Responding, Obaseki reassured them of his administration’s readiness to pay whatever amount was passed into law.
The governor, who was represented by the Head of Service, Mr Isaac Ehiozuwa, said Edo was “workers’ friendly.”
He said that the state had gone ahead to pay N25,000 minimum wage, when other states were still paying N18,000.
“The NLC chairman has said it all. The state is labour friendly, and we will implement whatever is passed into law by the National Assembly.”
He commended the union for the peaceful conduct of the protest and assured that the workers would smile at the end of the day.
Similarly, the Cross River Chapter of the NLC says it will not participate in the 2019 general elections if the federal and state governments fail to implement the N30,000 minimum wage.
The state NLC Chairman, John Ushie, made the declaration on Tuesday during a peaceful protest in Calabar to press home the workers’ demand for the implementation of the minimum wage.
Mr Ushie said that the current minimum wage of N18,000 had become obsolete since 2015, and accused the Federal Government of playing on the intelligence of workers’ by holding several fruitless meetings to avert strike.
The chairman decried the long period the minimum the wage bill had been with the Presidency with no plans of transmitting it to the National Assembly for passage into law.
“Labour will continue the struggle until we get victory. Victory does not come easy, it will require all our energy, and it will require us to put all.
“The minimum wage is long overdue since 2015. Workers have run out of patience, so we are here to take our destinies in our hands.
“We are here to protest because it is a national directive; we will do so until we get a commitment from government concerning the N30,000 minimum wage and when it will be enacted into law.
“Secondly, we are here to send a message to President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately transmit the minimum wage bill to the National Assembly for passage, so that the money can get to Nigerian workers without further delay.
“If the Federal Government and governors say no to minimum wage, we also say there is no vote for them; no election,’’ he said.
He said that the rally will culminate into an indefinite strike if nothing was done quickly by the Federal Government.
Also, Boniface Isok, a national officer of the NLC, who said he was in Calabar to monitor the rally, maintained that workers would not participate in the 2019 general elections if the minimum wage was not implemented.
Mr Isok said that the organised labour would not hesitate to embark on an indefinite strike if the Federal Government failed to transmit the bill to the National Assembly.
“Anytime the Federal Government heard that we want to go on strike, they will fix a meeting with no reason for it. This time, we are not giving a notice for strike.
“The Federal Government wants to hold the 2019 general elections without implementing the minimum wage because they know that once the election is held, that becomes the end of the minimum wage.
“If the Federal Government does not sign the minimum wage bill into law, there will be no election. We are ready for them this time,’’ he said.
NAN
