FG Sets Up Nine-man Panel To Address NLC, Kaduna Dispute

In a move to resolve the labour crisis occasioned by the sacking of 45,000 workers in Kaduna State, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, on Thursday, set up a nine-man bipartite committee comprising six representatives of the state government and three officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress.

The committee, which is expected to submit its report by May 25, is to engage further with the objective of reverting with a work plan on how to integrate the provision of Section 20 of the Labour Act, CAP L1 LFN, 2004, to resolve the impasse between the state government and the NLC.

The Act provides comprehensive legislation on conditions of work and employment and sets out general provisions relating to wages, contracts and terms of employment.

According to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting in Abuja, it was resolved that the committee should have as Chairman, the Head of Service of the Kaduna State Government and assisted by the Deputy National President of the NLC.

The resolution was jointly signed by the Kaduna State Head of Service, Bariatu Mohammed, NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, Commissioner for Local Government, Kaduna State, Ja’afaru Sani, NLC Deputy President, Najeem Usman, Director, Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mrs Omoabie Akpan and the Director Finance and Accounts, Muoneke Aloy.

The communiqué read in part, “The committee is expected to revert with the work plan for peaceful resolution of all issues in contention to the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment by Tuesday 25th May, 2021.

“The meeting agreed that all the listed issues fall within the ambit of redundancy therefore, it was resolved that the principle of redundancy as stated in section 20 of Labour Act, Cap L 1, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria should apply.

“The meeting also recognized that the current impasse was caused by communication gap between the state government and NLC occasioned by both the local chapter and even the Kaduna State Government officials.”

The statement said the committee’s work plan was to ‘’itemise the structure and sub-structure in the state and local government of their activities, time of commencement and envisaged final tenure of the committee or make recommendations if in its wisdom it thinks the committee should be a Permanent Standing Committee.”