THE refusal of Minister of Labour & Employment Chris Ngige to inaugurate former Secretary-General of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) Frank Kokori as the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) Chairman has pitted the minister against Labour and the oil workers’ union.
An attempt by the minister to inaugurate the NSITF governing Board at the Ministry of Labour, Employment & Productivity was disrupted by members of the unions yesterday in Abuja.
They accused Ngige of running the ministry like a sole administrator by attempting to substitute Kokori.
But the ministry said the substitution of Kokori got the blessing President Muhammadu Buhari.
The labour leaders yesterday invaded the ministry to demand for the inauguration of the former NUPENG scribe as NSITF’s governing board chair.
The NSITF board inauguration had been put on hold since 2018 when boards of other agencies were inaugurated in the Ministry of Labour with the excuse that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission unearthed a huge fraud in the agency.
But, 24 hours before the planned inauguration, the Ministry announced the appointment of another Board Chairman to replace Kokori, whose name was subsequently named as the Chairman of the Micheal Imoudu Labour Institute.
The ministry, however, said it called off the inauguration because of the invasion of the venue by those it described as “thugs brought in by Comrade Wabba and Chief Kokori”.
As at 11.00am when the inauguration was to take place, the minister and other officials were not at the venue forcing NSITF official to leave the place.
NLC President Ayuba Wabba told the workers that the Minister had allegedly shifted the venue to a hotel for the inauguration that was later called off.
Wabba said: “It is our money, social security money and people want to sit on it. This is just the beginning and any child that says his mother should not sleep, will not sleep. We are already on the ground and therefore not afraid of falling.
“The board was supposed to be inaugurated today, but unfortunately, that is not to be. The same excuse that they have given in the last three and half years still came up. First, the fund we are taking about is workers money.
“It is the money contributed by employers for the social security cover of their workers. It is because of that issue that NLC has two members and NECA has two members. Even the Ministry of Labour has only a member on the board.
“But for three and half years, many reasons have been used. The first was that the appointment was made by the Acting President and that he needed to revalidate it from the President which he did.
“The second reason was that there has been corruption in the place and that he needed to clean it up and we said there was no problem because we are against corruption.”
Wabba warned of the consequences of secretly inaugurating the Board, saying: “We are demanding for accountability and transparency. If he does go to inaugurate the board in a secret place, it then means he has something to hide which Nigerians need to know. That is why we are here in large number. The stake of this economy is in NUPENG.
“If somebody that is declared prisoner of conscience by world renowned leaders is so appointed by the President, Ngige cannot not come here and change it or manipulate the process.
“Kokori has not been informed that there is a new Chairman of the board. The minister had earlier informed him that Mr President has appointed him as the chairman of the board and he has undergone all necessary security screening.”
NUPENG President Williams Apkoreha said the union would resist any attempt by the minister to secretly inaugurate the board.
He disclosed that the union would be holding its National Executive Council meeting immediately after the Easter holiday to deliberate on the issue and would implement any decision arrived at, including mobilising Nigerian workers to resist the move by the minister.
He said: “Any board that is inaugurated without Kokori as Chairman of board will not be acceptable to Nigerian workers”
Reacting to the development, the ministry accused the labour leaders of mobilising thugs to disrupt the inauguration of the NSITF Board, adding that the government would not tolerate a situation where labour leaders challenge or vitiate the constitutional powers of the President over appointments.
In a statement by the Assistant Director Press in the Ministry, Rhoda Ishaku Iliya, the Ministry explained that the replacement of Kokori as Chairman of the NSITF board followed due process and got the approval of the President.
The statement reads: “The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has explained that the inauguration of the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) scheduled for today (yesterday), April 18, 2019 was postponed because of security breach occasioned by the siege on the Conference Room of the Hon. Minister of Labour and Employment, venue of the inauguration by violent thugs imported by the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Ayuba Wabba and Comrade Frank Kokori.
“The postponement was to avoid the degeneration of the situation, where thugs were already manhandling some officers of the Ministry and policemen attached to the office of the Minister.”
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