NUP begs Tinubu to save union from balkanization

From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja

The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene to halt what it described as an attempt to “balkanize” the union.

NUP warned that the recent registration of a new retirees’ body by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment goes against extant labour laws and threatens the unity of pensioners nationwide.

The Union’s National President, Godwin Abumisi, raised the alarm during an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) in Abuja.

Abumisi said the meeting was convened out of great concern and deep worry over some ugly developments happening to our union, stressing that the situation demanded urgent presidential intervention.

He pointed specifically to the ministry’s registration of the Association of Retirees of State Government, describing it as both destabilising and unlawful.

”Our meeting of today is a call for a rescue mission in order to prevent our union from being plunged into avoidable internal and external crises. The untoward activities of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.

“It is already a public knowledge that the ministry recently registered a body called ‘Association of Retirees of State Government’, which is a calculated action to destabilize the unity, solidarity, power of collectivity and the peace that has been reigning within the rank of the union for decades,” Abumisi stated.

He emphasised  that beyond its implications for union cohesion, the action directly breaches Nigeria’s labour laws.

“It is incontrovertible that the action of the ministry contravenes the provisions of the Trade Unions Act Cap T.14, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. This we should all rise up to prevent and resist with vigour,” he declared.