HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES URGES NLC TO SUSPEND PLANNED STRIKE                                                                  26-09-23

By Sadiq Aminu                                                       The Speaker of the house of Representatives Dr Tajudeen Abbas, has urged the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, to suspend any planned strike action while the parliament engage the executive.

He made the call while welcoming back the members from their two months recess.

Dr Abbas also called on them to consider the various actions being taken by the Federal Government to alleviate the current hardship faced by Nigerians.

This according to the Speaker is because embarking on a nationwide strike at this point will only aggravate an already bad situation.

He gave the assurance that the House would be interfacing between the organized labour and the government to quickly work out a realistic new national minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

“On account of these economic challenges, the organized labour under the aegis of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) seems to have lost patience with the painstaking effort of the government to plan and provide sustainable minimum wage and palliatives to citizens. The organized labour it appears would embark on a nationwide strike by this midnight following the expiration of a 21 days ultimatum issued to government. As the peoples’ representatives, we feel and equally share in the pains of our people at these very difficult times.

“As promised earlier, this House remains committed to getting a survival wage to all Nigerian workers. The 10th House had assured Nigerians that we would be interfacing between the organized labour and the government to quickly work out a realistic new national minimum wage and such other palliatives to enable citizens cope with the economic impact of fuel subsidy removal, the downward fall of the naira to the dollar, skyrocketing cost of food and general high cost of living in the country.

The Speaker observed that it has not been entirely woes and gloom for the nation with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s diplomatic and economic breakthrough with the United Arab Emirates and major economic agreements in India.