The Nation Newspaper

Category: Labour

  • Aremu seeks review of trade pact

    Aremu seeks review of trade pact

    National Union of Textile, Tailoring and Garment Workers General Secretary Comrade Issa Aremu has called on the Federal Government to review its trade agreements to prevent the dumping of goods.

    Aremu said some of the agreements were promoting factories’ closure and loss of jobs.

    He said: “We should review the agreements in the light of the effort to rebuild the nation’s economy.

    “We are not opposing trade but you must be a trading country first to enter into an agreement with the World Trade Organisation. What are we trading on? Nothing.”

    He said further: “We are not even producing for domestic market not to talk of exporting. We should not be eager to sign trade deals that are inimical to economic development.

    “This is because some of these agreements are injurious to workers. Let us put Nigeria first and get our priorities right.’’

    Aremu advised the government to ensure that the country became first a productive economy that produces for its domestic market.

    The Trade Adviser to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment and Chief Trade Negotiator for Nigeria, Ambassador Chiedu Osakwe, said the government would soon commence the review of the trade policy.

    Osakwe said the review would promote the government’s diversification policy.

    The review, if adopted, would be the first since it was formulated in 2002.

  • NECA to CBN: obey N50 stamp duty ruling

    NECA to CBN: obey N50 stamp duty ruling

    The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to comply with the Court of Appeal’s ruling stopping the deduction of N50 stamp from deposits of N1000 and above.

    In January, last year, CBN directed banks to deduct duty from deposit of N1,000 and above into current account. Last April 21, the appeal court ordered that the deductions be stopped, because they were illegal.

    NECA Director-General Mr. Segun Oshinowo accused CBN of not complying with the ruling. He said the deduction affected corporate bodies, among others.

    “NECA and organised businesses had opposed attempts by the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST) to compel companies to affix N50 postal stamp on all receipts, invoices and documents evidencing transaction of N1,000 and above,” he said.

    Oshinowo said it was worrisome that CBN has refused to comply with the ruling on the matter between Kasmal International Services Ltd. and Access Ban and 23 others.

    He said: “NECA has expressed concern over the failure of the CBN to reverse its earlier directives to all Deposit Money Banks (DMB) to halt the charging of N50 per eligible transaction in accordance with the assumed provisions of the Stamp Duties Act and Federal Government Financial Regulations (2009). The CBN is, hereby, advised to do the needful without delay by directing cessation of further deductions and commence the refund of all accrued deductions in the past to their customers.

    “NECA urges the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to restrain its operatives from pursuing policies that will increase the burden on the citizenry, both corporate and individuals. It affirmed that stamp duty’s applicability is limited to purchases involving large sums like a house purchase or importation of goods as against the position of applying N50 postage stamp to all receipts given by any bank (or financial institution) in acknowledgement of services rendered in respect of electronic transfer and teller deposits.”

  • ‘No ‘illegal’ recruitment in NHIS’

    ‘No ‘illegal’ recruitment in NHIS’

    The Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)  Prof Usman Yusuf has denied allegation of illegal recruitment levelled against him by the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN).

    He said there was no illegal recruitment in NHIS, adding that he remained committed to delivering optimal health service to all Nigerians.

    He said the management was making efforts towards repositioning the scheme for effective service delivery.

    He said the aim of the scheme is to reposition the institution to deliver health care to all Nigerians, especially to the poor and vulnerable in the society.

    Yusuf said the scheme had a goal to reach the pregnant women, children under five, the disabled, unemployed and the internally displaced persons.

    ASCSN had threatened to shut NHIS unless its management reversed the alleged illegal decision, within 21 days, the ‘illegal’ secondment of staff to the organisation.

    In a statement in Lagos, its Secretary-General, Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal, regretted that efforts by the union to reach Yusuf to have a change of heart on the matter were futile.

    “As a responsible trade union that believes so much in dialogue in settling dispute in work places, we requested a meeting with the executive secretary to discuss the issue of illegal secondment with a view to resolving it only to be ignored on all occasions.

    “The executive secretary illegally imported officers into the organisation, some of whom were on grade level 10 in their former work-places and placed them on grade level 15 at the NHIS, positions that are inconsistent with their qualifications and experience despite the fact that there are qualified and competent serving officers that should have been made to fill the positions,” the union alleged.

    The ASCSN lamented that it had written four letters to the executive secretary on the need to summon a meeting to resolve the matter.

    “It is clear that the executive secretary is bent on running the organisation the way he likes. Indeed, he has been boasting that the organisation belongs to him and that he will run it as his personal estate,” the union said.

    The group had condemned the administrative style of the executive secretary, describing it as not being in tandem with public service rules.

    According to the ASCSN secretary-general,  the association had informed the relevant agencies to avail them of the ultimatum.

  • PENGASSAN rejects proposed NLNG Act amendment

    PENGASSAN rejects proposed NLNG Act amendment

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has opposed the  House of Representatives’s plan to amend the NLNG (Fiscal Incentives, Guarantees and Assurances) Act, describing it as unnecessary.

    It said: “The amendment can cause imminent losses that will far outweigh any doubtful gains.”

    In a statement titled: “Proposed amendment of the NLNG Act: Economic and security implications for the nation,” signed by PENGASSAN President Comrade Francis Johnson, and Acting General Secretary Comrade Lumumba Okugbawa, the union said the amendment would impact negatively on the image of the country.

    PENGASSAN argued that the international community would perceive Nigeria as a country which does not honour its promises nor take its calls for foreign investments serious.

    The amendment, it said, could affect $25 billion foreign investments, 18,000 jobs from NLNG’s Train 7 and 8 programmes, and negate the job creation and security policy of the Buhari-led administration.

    The union added that the National Assembly’s  proposed action would also not only affect recent gains from the reduction in gas flaring – from 65 per cent to less than 20 per cent – and lead to the loss of up to $124 million yearly paid as taxes and dividends to the Federal Government.

    The union noted that it was essential that the country get the confidence of the international investor community to sustain critical investments, especially the stalled Brass and OK LNG projects.

    ”Our legislators should make laws that will improve existing businesses in the country and also attract new investments, and not laws which will stifle business, employment and/or erode investor confidence. The interest of the Nigerians must remain paramount,” the union said.

  • Retirees demand mortgage reimbursement

    The Contributory Pensioners Association of Nigeria (COPAN) has called for reimbursement from their contributions to the National Housing Fund (NHF).

    Its leader, Mr Kayode Da Silva, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Federal Mortgage Bank to reimburse contributors.

    ‘’Many of us who are retired even up to three years are yet to be reimbursed by the Federal Mortgage Bank,” he said.

    Da Silva said the pensioners had witnessed untold hardship, following the alleged refusal of the Federal Government to pay their pensions and gratuities since they retired in 2015, adding that  the scheme stipulated payment must be done within three months of retirement.

    He noted that neither the Federal Government nor the National Pension Commission (PenCom) offered reasons for the delay, adding that the development led to the death of many retirees.

    “Pensioners should not be made scapegoats for the ills and shortcomings of Federal Government agencies and personnel,” he said.

  • Fed Govt takes civil service pensioners’ verification to Bayelsa, Rivers

    The Federal Government has announced the start of the next phase of the verification and biometric capture of civil service pensioners in the South South States of Rivers and Bayelsa.

    A statement by the Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) in Abuja indicated that the verification exercise will take place in Port-Harcourt, to cover pensioners in Rivers State and in Yenagoa, to cover pensioners for Bayelsa on the 16th of this month.

    PTAD had earlier concluded verification of civil service pensioners from the North-West and South-East zones of the country in 2015.

    As a follow up, pensioners in the North East states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba were recently verified, between November 28 and December 6, 2016.

    The directorate said apart from identifying ghost pensioners and putting a stop to fraudulent payments, the exercise has facilitated the restoration of monthly pension payments to genuine pensioners previously removed from the payroll, including those who had never been paid any pension or gratuity.

    “4,438 pensioners verified in the North-west and South-East who were hitherto not receiving their pension, were payrolled in November, 2016 and their pension and arrears paid,” the statement said.

    The statement indicated that pensioners are expected to come along with the original and photocopies of their relevant retirement credentials for the upcoming exercise as will be published in national dailies and announced on television and radio stations.

    “PTAD is equally aware of the sick and infirm pensioners. They are advised to contact PTAD at the centres to enable the mobile verification team reach their homes/hospitals for biometrics,” the statement said.

  • Oil workers reject planned sale of refineries

    As the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) plans to rehabilitate refineries to optimise capacity utilisation in the year, oil workers in the country have warned the Federal Government against the sale of national refineries as scraps.

    The Group Executive Councils of National Union of Petroleum and Natural gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) said the step was a drift from the initial position which the union had rejected.

    It noted that the proposal to adopt a new model that would bring investors to increase productivity without necessarily having to lose jobs was commendable.

    Secretaries of the two groups, Comrade Sulaiman Sulaiman of PENGASSAN and Comrade Uche Amara of UNPENG GEC, said they had been following the Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, Maikanti Baru’s 12 Focus Area drive towards revamping the corporation with interest.

    It noted that the administration of the GMD has been workers’friendly in the evaluation of its programmes and listed promotions, redeployment, rehabilitation of refineries as well as other welfare programmes, including wage and retirement benefits.

    “We believe that this practice if sustained will continue to boost staff morale and increase productivity”, the unions said, and promised to be committed in partnering with him to increase productivity and enhance welfare of workers.’’

  • Electricity workers seek review of PHCN sale

    Electricity workers have called for a review of the power sector’s privatisation because of what they called the poor performance of the distribution and generation  companies.

    Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Company (SSAEAC) President, Chris Okonkwo decried the dwindling fortunes of the sector after its  November 1, 2013 sale.

    The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on January 9 told the distribution companies (Discos) to improve on their service delivery or quit.

    ”We are working as hard as we can to make the environment more responsive to you and as I have said and will repeat that as pioneers, you will carry some burdens. You either improve your services or quit,” Fashola told the firms at the opening of the 11th Monthly Stakeholders meeting in Lagos.

    According to Okonkwo, three years after the Discos and Gencos took over the electricity sector, they are yet to meet people’s expectations.

    “We think it is time to reappraise the content of the agreement that handed over the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to the private sector and its implementation.

    “It is time to hold those who bought the power sector down for what they had signed that they will do. We want to know if they are doing well or not,’’ he said.

    Referring to Fashola’s warning, he said the government should not ask electricity investors to shape up, but to also ensure that they implement what was stipulated in the contract for the sale of the power sector.

    Okonkwo criticised the government’s plans to get N309 billion fund from the bond market to “finance shortfall” in the electricity market since it had sold it to private investors.

    He said: “Issuance of bond will amount to spoon-feeding the operators for their inefficiency. The bond will be at a cost to Nigerians as the risk of default will affect the Government Sovereign Guarantee and lead to energy crisis in future.’’

    The union leader said among the challenges that had affected the growth of power supply was DISCOs’ inability to collect revenue for the energy generated and transmitted by the generation companies.

    “Critical to the survival of this sector is revenue collection. There is deficiency in revenue collection. These companies collect revenue of 30 per cent as against 60 to 70 per cent before privatisation and this is the money the sector needs to operate with.

    “Where you produce something and the money for it is not recovered through the market, that product will go extinct. That is what may happen,’’ he said.

    Okonkwo said another challenge was because the country operated a grid system which remained the best option for cheap power.

    “The grid system is where generators very big volume are integrated and connected into cadre and energy is exchanged throughout the interconnected grid.

    “Where the money for the energy is generated and put on the grid cannot come back for the Gencos to plough back into production of electricity for the transmission to recover cost of transmitting and delivering electrify to the Disco’s, then we run the risk for the whole system collapsing.

    “That is why we need to raise alarm again that the Discos have no time to be asked to perform again. What should be done is access them and act on what they have attained so far, positive or negative,’’ he said.

    On metering of houses, Okonkwo said it was sad that consumers were not metered without noticeable improvement in the area of generation or distribution of electricity while tariffs had been increased twice since 2013.

    “The government should come in, apply the terms and conditions of the sale and see if we can correct the mistake,” he said.

    Okonkwo said if the private investors could not manage the sector, the government should take it over, adding that: “Electricity is a socio-economic sector that other sectors, such as health and the economy depend.”

  • PTD to train 1500 drivers in Lagos on safety maintenance

    The Petroleum Tanker’s Drivers (PTD) arm of the the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Lagos zone, is to train 1,500 drivers.

    Speaking at a National Safety Training  Programme in Lagos, the Chairman, PTD-Lagos zonal council, Comrade Rasaq Akanbi, said the training would centre on safe driving and vehicle maintenance.

    He said at the end of the five week training, each driver would be issued with a certificate, adding that any driver without a certificate would not be allowed to load.

    “We believe that we need to train and re-train our members across the country. If we don’t train them, they may misbehave and cause havoc along our highway.

    “I believe the training will create a very big impact on the attitude of members on the highway. Our target is to reduce, if not totally eradicate, frequent tanker accidents on the highway because if a tanker gets involved in an accident, it is going to cause a lot of damage to people and properties. We are training them because they are the ones that have interface with the vehicles and other road users,” he said.

    Deputy Chairman (2), PTD, Lagos zonal council, Comrade Saheed Adigun, said the main purpose of the programme was to enlighten drivers on how to drive safely when ever they are on the wheel.

    He said the programme would also address other challenges associated with tanker drivers.

    “I am so pleased today and can boldly say that the efforts of the union so far have not been in vain. We have recorded almost no major accidents. It shows our campaign on safety on wheels is yielding the desired results.

    “We are happy that we are not only oiling the economic wheel of this nation, we are doing it in such a way that we put the safety of lives and property of Nigerians above personal gains and we spare no cost to achieve this important goal,” he said.

    He called on all to be alive to their responsibilities and work for the nation.

  • United Labour Congress not NLC’s faction, says Ajaero

    United Labour Congress not NLC’s faction, says Ajaero

    The President of United Labour Congress (ULC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, has said the group is not a faction of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

    He said Section 40 of the Constitution says one can form or belong to any trade union of one’s choice, religion or political group and that it was in the exercise of this that the Trade Union Congress (TUC) was registered.

    Speaking with reporters, Ajaero said the Obasanjo regime in 2002/2003 realised that under a democratic environment, one could not compel people to remain in one room even if they don’t want to be there.

    “Incidentally, TUC was registered as the first labour centre with number 001. NLC doesn’t have a registration number today, up till now.

    “If somebody is telling you about registration or no registration, they have not done that. If it is all about receiving licence or certificate after the amendment of plural labour centres, they don’t have that. Let nobody deceives himself, TUC is 001 and there is no 002 as at today.

    “In as much as I wouldn’t want to go into controversy, the atmosphere has been opened for people to belong to labour centres with some criteria; which is to avoid mush-rooming of labour centres,”  Ajaero said.

    He explained that there are three labour unions, adding that the three can still not fully address workers’problems.

    “Since the unfortunate thing that happened in NLC in the last two years, I will tell you that nobody from my own group of the NLC attended to their problems, nobody, whether when we were picketing Ikeja or whatever, it is internal here.

    “We have sat down, we thought in various ways about it. How do we do this? We resolved to forget about it.

    “We discovered that even the people we are equally operating with will not agree on any of those issues we have decided jointly. We discovered that on a daily basis, it is either they are sending Police, or the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or whatever to you to say you did this or that. Or they arranging some people from their own sector to send petition against you. The solution to the crisis is what has happened,” Ajaero added.