‘Many Of Them Are Labour Party Supporters’

The Presidency has reacted to the ongoing indefinite nationwide strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

Naija News reports that the organized labour, consisting of the two major bodies, commenced an industrial strike on Monday (today), with many of its affiliates shutting down their workplaces in compliance.

The strike action is a response to the Federal Government’s refusal to increase the proposed minimum wage from N60,000.

The leadership of the NLC and TUC have been negotiating with the incumbent government for a new national minimum wage, citing the expiration of the current wage award in April 2024.

Despite the government’s offer of N60,000, the unions have insisted on a higher wage of N494,000, reduced from their initial demand of N497,000.

Reacting in a social media post on Monday, President Bola Tinubu‘s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said it was saddening that Labour could go to this extreme over the proposed minimum wage.

He asserted that many of the affiliates of the NLC and TUC are staunch supporters of the Labour Party (LP), the third force in the 2023 general election.

Onanuga asserted further that the labour is playing politics by other means, thereby, harming the Nigerian people they claimed to be fighting for.

“It’s saddening that Labour could go to this extreme. But it is not surprising to the perceptive minds. Labour is harming the Nigerian people they claim to be fighting for.

“Today, many sick Nigerians cannot access medical care at government hospitals. Not even those with critical medical conditions. It appears labour is playing politics by other means. Many of the affiliates of the two central unions, NLC and TUC, are members and supporters of the Labour Party. They logically bear ill will and grudges against the Tinubu administration.

“Otherwise, the issue they claim to be fighting for cannot be resolved by blackmail or sabotage, they cannot even be resolved by the Federal Government unilaterally, the Labour leaders will still have to return to the negotiating table.”