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By Bimbola Oyesola
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) will this morning begin a nationwide protest at the National Assembly (NASS), Abuja and other state assemblies against planned removal of minimum wage from the Exclusive Legislative list.
The NLC had begun mobilisation for the protest from Monday through Tuesday’s night with all its national administrative and executive members assembling in Abuja from Sunday.
One of the members, who arrived Abuja on Monday, said each affiliate will contribute 200 members for the national protest holding at the National Assembly.
“We are all storming the National Assembly and all the 36 states assemblies in the country as early as 7a.m.”
NLC in a communique released at the end of its emergency virtual National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on March 2 had warned that the protest may snowball into a national strike should the legislators fail to step down the bill.
The communique jointly signed by the President of the congress, Ayuba Wabba, and the acting General Secretary, Ismail Bello, had resolved there would be a national protest from March 10 in the Federal Capital Territory and, especially, at the National Assembly.
The protest, the NLC president said is to make a strong statement that Nigerian workers would not lie low and watch hard fought rights which are of global standards bastardized by the political class.
The bill listed in the House of Representatives as HB 950, was sponsored by Garba Datti Mohammed of Sabon Gari Federal Constituency, Kaduna State, and had passed the first and second reading in February.
National Coordinator, Nuhu Sani Lere faulted the anti-workers bill, describing it as the most unfortunate and disappointing.
Lere said this clearly shows the sponsor does not have the interest of public servants at heart.
“As a lawmaker, Muhammad should have researched on the present situation of minimum wage in some states of the country before presenting this unwanted and anti-worker bill to the Chamber.”
The coalition called on Senate president and the speaker as well as members of the National Assembly, particularly their committees on salary and wages to drop the bill for the interest of Nigerian workers.
