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  • NLC, Ngige disagree on implementation date for new wage

    THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige have disagreed over the possibility of implementing a new national Minimum wage in September this year.

    While President of NLC insists that the tripartite committee on minimum wage set an August/September date for the minimum wage, the Minister said the September date for workers to receive the minimum wage is not feasible in view of the long processes involved.

    The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) has however warned against putting a particular timeline on the conclusion and eventual implementation of the minimum wage, but expressed confidence that the entire process should be concluded before the end of the year.

    Addressing newsmen after addressing the plenary at the ongoing 107th session International Labour Conference, President of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba said if all members of the tripod are committed to doing what is right and working within the timeline already set for itself, the minimum wage can be achieved in September.

    He said “clearly speaking, if we are to go by the timeline which the tripartite committee represented by government, employers and workers are able to work assiduously towards it, it is something that is deliverable and can be achieved. So, we are still keeping faith with the process.”

    According to him, the minimum wage committee set a timeline for itself which it is committed to, adding that “Labour represented by NLC and TUC are committed to following that timetable and timeline.”

    “We made that very clear from the beginning after the inauguration of the committee because the first thing they did was to look at the scope of the work and the time it will take for us to deliver, to complete the tripartite negotiation and make sure that we are able to deliver a comprehensive report.

    “Given the process of give and take, with the commitment we have also received from the National Assembly, I don’t think that the centrality of the issue require any delay. So as Organised Labour, we are committed to the timeline that the committee has set for itself. The timeline is August/September and we have said that very clearly.”

    He said as the process goes on, organised labour will constantly will consult its organs and constituents and will be able to push the process through any other means that is legitimately allowed by law.

    He said further that “at the tripartite committee, once it is agreed, we also know the process. It not about your willingness to pay, but the desirability and the fact that workers deserve decent wages. Clearly speaking, there is no time that employers has offered willingly as Father Christmas increases in salaries to workers. It has always been through demand and contestations.”

    “So, when we reach the bridge, they will also see reason because if they want workers to be productive, they must be able to take care of their families. People seek for employment so that they will have decent living. Nobody seek job for the sake of being Father Christmas. These are the areas of contestations. So, it is not about how you feel, but what is supposed to be done.

    “Once there is the will and the negotiations are concluded and a figured agreed by the tripartite, the entire process involved in making it a law can be concluded within a very short period. The one that we did in 2011 did not take up to one month for the entire process to be completed.

    “We have also received firm commitment from the leadership of the National Assembly that once a law that is agreeable is transmitted to them, they will be able to facilitate the process. So, if there is the good will, all these processes can be concluded in good time and workers will then be able to benefit from it.

    “But if there is no good will, then the issue of delay and all manner of excuses can be given. But our faith is that we are committed to the process and workers are waiting very anxiously to benefit because it is also long overdue. At the last negotiation, we all agreed to the five year timeline. This is the context of what we are considering”.

    Addressing the plenary session of the ILO earlier, Wabba said that the rank of the working poor in Nigeria was expanding, thus exacerbating household, generational and gender poverty. However, while saying that he was quoted out of contest in earlier reports that the minimum wage may not be feasible by September, Minister of Labour said “the truth of the matter is that there is a work programme for the minimum wage committee. And by that schedule of work, we are supposed to terminate our own work in that committee first week of September.

    “After you have done that, you will now take your recommendation to government. After doing that, the executive arm of government will take your recommendation to the Federal Executive Council because it concerns those in states, people in the state will now take it to National Economic Council, which is the council in charge of the economy of Nigeria. So these bodies will then look at the recommendation and then forward the final distillate to the National Assembly.

    “It is the National Assembly that has power to make laws. But we can forward to them as executive bills. That is what the constitution says. So, I do not see all these taking place in September. That was why I said the date of September for a worker to receive new minimum wage is not feasible.

    “However, that is not to say if everyone puts in their best and we put it on a fast track, we cannot consummate it before the end of the year. And when we consummate it before the end of the year, it has to be budgeted for. So, the money will go in either as supplementary budget or 2019 budget.”

    On his part, Director General of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) said putting a definite timeline on the issue of the new minimum wage may be counterproductive.

    He said employers of labour in the country “have been the good boy over the years as far as minimum wage is concern. What we are doing now is to give expression to the issue if social dialogue in the context of negotiation. The private sector in Nigeria has been one firm believer in collective bargaining.

    “In fact, we have been able to adhere to the principles and value of collective bargaining more than the government. We have demonstrated good faith in the outcome of collective bargaining by implementing the outcome of such collective bargaining from time to time.

    “So, the whole idea of discussing the national minimum wage is not strange to us because we have taken part in it in time past and employers in Nigeria have been very faithful to the outcome of past national minimum wage.

    “I can assure you that just as we have done in time last, our employers will still keep that good reputation which they have as law keepers as soon as the national minimum wage is legislated into law. So, we all look forward to the conclusion of the negotiations which I think should be sooner than later.

    “But we must be careful in trying to set specific date or specific timeline for the discussions going on because the dynamics of negotiations and bargaining is such that you can just speculate, but you cannot be definitive as to when it will end. But one thing that we as employers are quite sure of is that before the end of the year, we should be able to finish the entire process of discussing the national minimum wage”.

  • ‘Minimum wage won’t be ready by Sept.’

    WORKERS’ expectations of getting a new national minimum wage by the end of September would not materialise, Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige said yesterday.

    He explained that the September date is just for conclusion of negotiation on the issue of the minimum wage.

    Ngige, in an interview with reporters yesterday at his home in Abuja, said the committee on the new minimum wage is expected to conclude its work by the end of September and its report will be thereafter presented for deliberation.

    This, he added, will be followed by an approval before an Executive Bill will be presented to the National Assembly on the issue.

    He noted that the issue of availability of funds to pay the new wage would be paramount in the deliberations.

    Ngige said the committee embarked on zonal public hearing across the country to get the input of those concerned, including state governments and the organised private sector.

    The minister said in the course of the zonal public hearings, many state governments made different submissions ranging from N22,000 monthly minimum wage to N58,000.

    The minister added that the governors were also of the opinion that for the new minimum wage to become effective, the present revenue allocation formula would have to be reviewed in favour of the states and local governments.

    He said some other states submitted that the minimum wage should be maintained at the present N18,000 in view of the inability of some states to pay the wages.

    Ngige said when the minimum wage committee concludes its report, it would be submitted to the National Council of State and the Federal Executive Council for approval before a bill is sent to the National Assembly to legalise the committee’s work.

    He said even though it was not an easy task, the committee was making progress in its assigned responsibility and noted that it was in order to carry everybody, including the states and private sector, that six governors were elected to be members of the committee as well as representatives of the organised private sector.

    On the threat by non-teaching staff of universities to resume their suspended strike as a result of alleged government’s failure to honour the terms of their agreement, the minister said government was sourcing the N6 billion needed to pay them their earned allowances as contained in the agreement.

    He said from his experience as Minister of Labour, majority of about 95 per cent of agreements presently being paraded by trade unions were signed before the Buhari administration came into office in 2015.

    Most of such agreements, he explained, had no timeline for implementation.

    He said many of the agreements signed by the last government were not implementable because of the amount involved.

    The principles of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Ngige said, allowed employers to renegotiate agreements, which they feel they cannot implement.

    The minister appealed to striking health workers to return to work while negotiations continue on their demands.

    Ngige noted that the delay in the implementation of their signed agreement was as a result of failure of the National Salaries, Wages and Income Commission to defend the two different figures presented to a government high-powered committee.

    He said the committee has directed the commission and the Federal Ministry of Health to go back and recompile the figures for onward submission to the committee for deliberation.

     

     

  • 2019: Buhari deserves re-election – Ngige

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has expressed optimism that President Muhammadu Buhari would be re-elected in the 2019 presidential election.

    Ngige spoke on Sunday at Ojoto, Idemili South local government area of Anambra State, while addressing newly elected officials of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the area.

    The minister said Buhari had done so well to merit re-election.

    “I stand before you today to say Mr. President has done so well in all ramifications.

    “He will be returned by Nigerians in 2019 in a landslide victory,” he said.

    Ngige, who noted that the party would contest all elective positions in the general elections, urged party faithful to work hard to ensure that the APC scores not less than 70 per cent of the votes cast in the state.

    He commended the party members for ensuring a smooth and peaceful local government congress held in the 21 local government areas of the state on Saturday.

    “Contrary to what the prophets of doom had expected, the APC in the state had a hitch-free local government congress,” he said.

    The National Treasurer of APC, Chief George Moghalu, also commended the party for the peaceful conduct of the congress in the state.

    “I am very optimistic the same good conduct will be witnessed during the state congress,” Moghalu said.

    NAN

     

     

  • Anambra: Ngige, Moghalu hail members after peaceful congress

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday in Anambra State recorded a peaceful local government Congress in the state to the surprise of many.

    Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige and National Auditor of the party, Dr. George Muoghalu, have hailed the members for their peaceful conduct.

    The outcome was somewhat a glaring departure from what was witnessed from last week’s Ward congresses in the 326 electoral wards of the state.

    Last weekend’s ward congresses were marred by rancour that led to shootings by security men at the Finotel Hotel in Awka during the stakeholders meeting

    Ngige said the 5-man delegates per ward generated from the ward congress participated in the council congress where another 5-man congress was chosen from each council area.

    The minister charged them to work tirelessly with full commitment to ensure the party garnered more than 70% of all the votes in the coming 2019 general election.

    Moghalu thanked all party members for their cooperation and peaceful disposition during the congress.

     

  • Why Anambra APC congress was violent, by Ngige

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has broken his silence on the violence that marred last weekend’s ward congresses in Anambra State.

    In a statement in Abuja, Ngige said the violence was a well-planned action aimed at discrediting the party as a violent party.

    In the statement, which was signed by the Head of the Senator Chris Ngige Media Office, Chikwelugo  Obidiwe, the minister said those who perpetrated the violence displayed a well rehearse “rogue ideology”.

    He condemned the violence, saying his only interest as the leader of the party was to ensure the peaceful conduct of the congresses and to appeal to all party members to remain calm and resolute.

    The statement reads: “We have carefully reviewed all that took place at the last weekend’s All Progressives Congress (APC) ward congresses in Anambra State and wish to clearly state that the interest of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, in the entire process as the leader of the party in the state was to ensure that members were not disenfranchised and that people freely elected their leaders.

    “Therefore, the subsequent violence that marred the stakeholders meeting in Awka on Sunday is not only condemnable, but a weird and dangerous phenomenon, completely unknown to opposition politics in Anambra State.

    “We wish to put on record that Sen. Ngige has been in the opposition politics since 2004 when he left the PDP and so are some other members of the APC in the state. He in fact started from ACD, AC to ACN and now the APC. We must add that thuggery, violence, wanton destruction of property and general threat to life are alien in their fold.”

    Ngige said what transpired in Awka last Sunday was deliberate and well-planned to discredit the APC in Anambra. He said: “It was a desperate determination by Hon. Tony Nwoye to rebrand the Anambra APC the violent way. It was a rehash of a rogue ideology which has been a trademark of his former party.

    “Many were shocked by the swam of cultists, arsonists and deadly thugs that accompanied him to the venue of the meeting, because they thought  the aphorism of ‘behaving like the Romans while in Rome’ had impacted some lessons on this political proselytes in the opposition fold.  How erroneous they were!

    “What happened? Four out of six members of the Anambra State Ward Congress Electoral Committee were swapped with another four from Imo State as a result of the problem in the Imo State chapter.

    “Before the swap however, by Friday evening the sale of forms had commenced and congress progressed effectively in 285 out of 326 electoral wards in the state by night of Saturday, even though the four persons billed to come from Imo that morning did not turn up; hence  leaving the two men from the previous committee to supervise.”

    The statement added that when the four officials expected from Imo eventually arrived, the party leadership reasoned that they should join the two remaining members of the former committee to bring their assignment to a fruitful conclusion; since the exercise had advanced in most of the electoral wards, it reasoned that there was no need to abort a peacefully progressing process.

    It continued: “Hence, the four new persons, including the Acting Chairman, took brief from the State Chairman, as well as from the two persons still left of the previous committee – that is, Engr. Musa Yunusa and Engineer Aloma Nzeocha.

    “However, a quick stakeholders meeting was requested  by Hon. Nwoye and the party leadership obliged him for reasons. One was in the spirit of openness which democracy entails. The next was to avoid unbalancing his sense of self or offend his vanity.

    “However, little did it occur to any that the forum was to afford him the much-needed opportunity to unleash his brigand hordes and cause mayhem.

    “A simple explanation by the Minister of Labour that congresses had successfully held in most wards before the arrival of the new team was all that provided Nwoye and his gang a trigger. That innocuous explanation was all that flipped the lid.”

    But, Nwoye maintained that there was no congress in his wards; that he was waiting for the new congress committee members to start the process afresh. The minister, however, believed that Nwoye’s excuse was an alibi, to call for a fresh start to give him enough latitude to hijack the process.

    But, before Nwoye could finish his statement, the minister said, the lawmaker’s band of thugs descended on the high table.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Anambra violence was planned to paint party in bad light, says Ngige

    MINISTER of Labour and Employment Senator Chris Ngige yesterday broke his silence on the violence that marred weekend’s ward congresses in Anambra State.

    The violence, Ngige said, was a well-planned action aimed at branding the party as violent.

    In a statement signed by his Head of Media Office, Chikwelugo Obidiwe, the minister said those who perpetrated the violence displayed a well rehearse “rogue ideology”.

    Condemning the violence, he said his only interest as the leader of the party was to ensure the peaceful conduct of the congresses in Anambra State.

    He appealed to party members to remain calm and resolute in the party’s zero-tolerance for thuggery, cultism, violence and blood.

    The statement said: “What transpired in Awka last Sunday was deliberate and well-planned. It was a desperate determination by Hon. Tony Nwoye to rebrand the Anambra APC the violent way. It was a rehearse of a rogue ideology, which has been a trademark from his former party, the PDP.”

    The statement added: “Many were shocked by the swam of cultists, arsonists and deadly thugs that accompanied him to the venue of the meeting because they thought  the aphorism of ‘behaving like the Romans while in Rome’ had impacted some lessons on this political proselytes in the opposition fold.  How erroneous they were!

    “What happened? Four out of six members of the Anambra State Ward Congress Electoral Committee were swapped with another four from Imo State as a result of the problem in the Imo State chapter.

    “Before the swap, however, by Friday evening, sale of forms had commenced and congress progressed effectively in 285 out of 326 electoral wards in Anambra State by night of Saturday even though the four persons billed to come from Imo that morning did not turn up, hence, leaving the two men from the previous committee to supervise.

    “When they eventually turned up, the state party leadership rightly reasoned that the way to progress was for them to join the two remaining members of the former committee to bring their assignment to a fruitful conclusion since the exercise had advanced in most of the electoral wards. No need aborting a peacefully progressing process.

    “Hence, the four new persons including the Acting Chairman took brief from the State Chairman as well as from the two persons still left of the previous committee – that is, Engineer Musa Yunusa and Engineer Aloma Nzeocha.”

    However, the statement said a quick stakeholders’ meeting was requested by Nwoye and the party leadership obliged him in the spirit of openness and “to avoid unbalancing his sense of self or offend his vanity”.

    It added: “However, little did it occur to any that the forum was to afford him the much-needed opportunity to unleash his brigand hordes and cause mayhem.  Many hence, have learnt the warning from the Trojan priest to always “fear the Greeks, even the ones bearing gifts.”

    “A simple explanation by the Minister of Labour that Congress had successfully held in most wards before the arrival of the new team was all that provided Nwoye and his gang a trigger. That innocuous explanation was all that flipped the lid.

    “Before descent to the dastardly, Nwoye had said there was no congress in his wards, that he was waiting for the new congress committee members to start the process afresh. No doubt, this was an alibi. Calling for a fresh start was to give him enough latitude to hijack and torpedo the process with his outlawry in the areas where he was losing. No one was deceived by this half crafty ruse.

    “Because ‘an angry man is always a stupid man’, Chinua Achebe would say, he couldn’t round off his position before his band of thugs were signalled to attack the high table. They took away Engineer Musa Yunusa, having broken two chairs on his head, dragging him in a pool of blood, stripped naked, and fiercely pushing to end him all!

    “The Minister already taken to safety by his security, broke away from protection, had to intervene to rescue Engineer Yunusa, almost lifeless.  The doctors as we speak battled to save his life at Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi from where he has been transferred to another hospital because of the JOHESU strike

    “The interest of the Hon. Minister, we wish to state once more was to ensure a credible exercise as the leader of the party in Anambra State. He is neither contesting the ward chairmanship, local government, state nor even aspiring to be a national officer of the party. He does not also need to run for governorship in 2021 as the two of the persons fueling and stage managing the crisis are angling for.”

     

     

     

  • Reflect on examples of Christ, Ngige urges

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige has ask Christians to use the occasion of the Easter celebration to soberly reflect on the essence of love and sacrifice as exemplified in the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    He said the redemption of mankind through the death and resurrection of Christ is the basis of Christianity, hence sacrifice for common cause should guide the aspiration of all Christians at all times.

    He said “Christ died so that we shall live. His suffering, death and resurrection are the basis of our salvation and faith as Christians. Let us therefore be ready to love one and another and readily make necessary sacrifice for the peace and progress of the nation”.

  • Between Ngige’s one-man show and the blind eagle eye

    To most Nigerians, especially stakeholders in the labour sector, the major saddle for the organised labour at the moment, ought to be the actualisation of the new minimum wage to bring the nation’s dipped working condition to the upbeat.

    However, the oozing tale of sleaze from the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund(NSITF), an agency whose role is cardinal to the wellbeing of workers through the implementation of the Employee Compensation (ECA) Act 2010, appear to have taken ascendancy. And the reason orbits primarily on an unfortunate negligence and connivance of a section of the labour leadership to the untoward development in the agency.

    While the organised Labour daily plays workers’ welfare as a trump, the unfolding tragedy where the statutory labour and private sector board representatives failed woefully as a bulwark against corruption is an embarrassing irony on their avowed commitment to the nation’s workforce.

    The NSITF is stinking but that appears not to be the business of a section of the organised labour, especially the Ayuba Wabba-led Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) who, in cahoots with the nominated chairman of the new NSITF board, Frank Kokori are engaged in desperate acts for its inauguration. Hence, the decision of the Minister of Labour & Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige to counter this coup against the  workers has pitted him in battle with them.  The minister, with the nod of the President, had insisted the board of the agency would be inaugurated after a nine-man administrative panel of enquiry set up to probe its toxic records from 2011 submitted its findings.

    Giving his reasons for staying action on NSITF while inaugurating other boards earlier this month, Ngige said, “the NSITF is one board that has breached all aspects of the financial regulations to the extent that it has no audited report since 2013 – five good years. The EFCC has investigated the place and discovered massive looting; has charged the chairman and some members of the former board to court, including some officials of the management that aided in the massive hemorrhaging of the agency to the tunes of billions. About N30 billion is reported to have been carted away and in one instance, about N5 billion was taken away without vouchers in one day!”

    He continued: “So, the government has set up a nine-man administrative panel of enquiry, comprising a forensic expert and others to unearth what happened; how  the internal audit mechanism in the place broke down irretrievably and  unable  to check  this heinous and massive fraud . We want to know how the non-executive directors, representing the NLC and Nigeria Employers Consultative Assembly (NECA), transmuted into executive directors and executive chairman.”

    The report of the panel is expected in two weeks since it has taken four out its six weeks’ life.  But,  the minister didn’t end without sounding a note of warning that the new board which would come on stream when the government has done the necessary gazette on the report of the panel must consist of men of integrity and impeccable character.  You may then ask the reason for desperation by Kokori and the NLC.  Why the hurry and the skirmishes?

    Though opinions are divided but it looks like the fear of the unknown is a strong tendency. With the fingers of the representatives of labour in the defunct board, deep in the pie, who knows where the trail of the probe will run to.  The “Kokori is our man” mantra in a section of the labour movement could have other meanings as his nomination could not in any way be more important than unearthing the pillaging of workers’ contributions running into billions of naira- the pillaging was so vast and diverse  that Pay As You Earn( PAYE) Tax deductions,  pension contributions, housing fund contributions  as well as outstanding staff allowances such as housing, education, clothing and promotion were not sent to the appropriated bodies as they were all gutted by corruption by 2013.

    And that Kokori himself has run amok over the non-inauguration of the board notwithstanding the reasons that government has given, heightens the suspicion.  Is this “our man” chorus, a type of a spanner in the works, covering of tracks? Can’t say certainly but deeper developments in the internal politics of the organised labour in relation to the NSITF, the flagship agency of the tripartite labour circle, smacks of unpatriotism and selfish power play.  There are whispers that the Ayuba-led NLC said it has no faith in the administrative panel set up by the minister when the requisite directors of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Auditor-General of the Federation, the Budget Office of the Federation, National Salaries Income and Wages Commission and three directors from the ministry of labour all sit on the panel.

    Unknown to most Nigerians, the NLC believes that with Kokori “their man” as chairman, and with its two statutory nominees, in addition to another two from NECA, it can do and undo in the board as well as dictate the tunes in the NSITF. This NLC’s ambitious calculation is regardless of an internal dissonance from their breakaway brothers in the newly formed federation, the United labour Congress (ULC), who has been petitioning that its 18 affiliate unions are a sure guarantee for nominations into all the labour related parastatals such as the NSITF, National Directorate of Employment (NDE) National Productivity Centre (NPC) where the Labour Acts mentioned the NLC.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I will come back to the NLC’s selfish game but let at this juncture acknowledge that the man in the eye of the storm and who has demonstrated abundant capacity to weather storms, Sen. Ngige appear to be neither enamoured of the internal dissension and factional contention in the labour federations nor losing sleep over the desperation and mud-raking attending the push to get the board of NSITF prematurely inaugurated.  But there is a voice of reason, a prized consolation to all workers in spite.  The United Labour Congress (UCL) through its General Secretary Didi Adodo in clear appreciation of the rot in the NSITF and the urgency of an in-depth cleansing, said in a recent interview.  “The plundering that has taken place in the NSITF is enough for any right-thinking organization and comrade to support a major probe that will not only unearth what has taken place but also bring the perpetrators to justice.”

    Adodo was supported by the Deputy President of UCL, Comrade Achese who demanded that the roles played by the representatives of the Labour and the private sector in the alleged NSITF fraud be fully probed, insisting that if found culpable, Nigerian workers should rise against the former board members for betraying them.

    Interestingly, two members of the former board representing the NLC, Comrade Aderemi Adegboyaga and Chief R.U Uche, immediate past President of NECA are among the six persons including the former Chairman of the board, Ngozi Olojeme, a PDP chieftain and Campaign Finance Director to Former President Jonathan as well as some management staff already arraigned by the EFCC for removing funds from the NSITF by E-Mandate from the First Bank, and changing same to about 48,485,127 dollars.  Now the question. Is this part of the reasons the NLC would have none of further probe of the NSITF? Does it explain away the desperation to inaugurate a new board where “our man” will help cover the tracks?  Why did labour in the first instance look the other way while its representatives in the defunct board participated in the unconscionable looting of the NSITF? And did any part of the loots facilitate ascension to office, by way of sponsorship, of some current labour leaders in the last NLC election?

    The matter is yet to come to a head as the ULC has gone further to ask the Minister to extend the investigation to the Trust Fund Pension Ltd- a pension Fund Administration in which NSITF has 40% majority Equity with NLC, TUC, NECA, Skye Bank and Niger Insurance.  Though the company is an NSITF initiative, the NLC/TUC and NECA with 15% and 10% shares respectively, are currently engaged in a bitter struggle over the appointment of Trust Fund Directors with the Managing Director and the Executive Directors of the NSITF. The Ayuba NLC and their sympathizers want their non-Executive Directors on the Board of NSITF be inaugurated urgently so that they can flow from the NSITF into the Trust Fund Pensions, thereby increasing their numerical strength of directors on the board.

    Whichever way their permutation goes, the Minister of Labour is sure footed, being a very experienced administrator and law maker. Inside sources said the former Anambra Governor  is bent on accomplishing the assurance he gave to the President that the NSITF would be cleaned, made financially viable and be returned to its original mandate. So far in office, he is the first Labour Minister to have taken a working tour of the regional and some state offices of the Fund, forcing the management to pay all outstanding staff housing, education, clothing and promotion allowances as well as payee tax and pension deductions that were lost to corruption in addition to furnishing their offices. He has also got the Federal Government to start paying her contribution to the fund, starting with N500 million in February 2018. (Federal Government had earlier refused to pay because of deep corruption in the agency )

    But for those who are still running amok, engaging in media skirmishes, the new board shall certainly be in place and very soon too, but the derail of the past has no leeway anymore. For the eagle on this page, all living beings including animals are abound to suffer one disease or the other in the course of existence. The sight of an eagle is prized over and above all other animals. In this case unfortunately, the eagle’s visual acuity has failed and needs an urgent veterinary medical check for glaucoma or may be cataract.

     

    Anule is a social critic based in Abuja.

     

  • Ngige’s one-man show

    It is curious that six months after the appointment of a new board for the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, is in no hurry to inaugurate the board. President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Chief Frank Kokori as Chairman of NSITF.

    About four months after Ngige’s odd delay, Kokori, a trade unionist and former secretary-general of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), protested during the 14th edition of the Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture/Symposium held in Lagos on January 15.

    Kokori said: “Today, my rights are being abridged by a minister. You have this Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) where Nigerian workers and employers contribute money to, their pensions, their gratuities, their compensations are all there. Anytime they put a board in place, the board will almost eat the whole money. Now they sacked the board, a woman was the chairman; they say they are looking for her…The government, in its wisdom, when Nigerian labour and organised private sector, NECA, went to meet the president and said, please this is our board, reconstitute this board for us…we have two members, NECA has two members, Central Bank has one member, just like that, and three executive directors, we want to protect our money.”

    Kokori continued:  “In September 2017, the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, phoned me and congratulated me that the president has made me the chairman of the NSITF. I should come to Abuja for us to negotiate the inauguration. Since September…I go to Abuja every day. Ngige now runs the board. A board that was set up, where I am the chairman, I now go and beg Ngige every day. Let us swear in…he will say tomorrow he is going to bury his grandmother. The next day, he is going to a naming ceremony. Ngige has no time to swear in the board. He was busy employing hundreds and hundreds of his own community people until recently they had to stop him…Up till today, four months after I was appointed by the president Ngige runs the NSITF singlehandedly and as a minister, and he does what he likes. This is what we call impunity.”

    A month later, Ngige inaugurated a nine-member Administrative Panel of Inquiry (API) into the finances of NSITF, saying that the move was in line with the Buhari administration’s war against corruption. Was it a response to Kokori’s protest?

    Ngige said: “The last Board and Administration of the NSITF left negative trails inimical to any advancement and progress for both the human and infrastructural components of the NSITF. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had discovered various acts of fraudulent diversions from the Federal Government and Private Sector Contributions amounting to N62.3 billion as at 2015, allegedly perpetrated by the past board and management staff of the NSITF.”

    It is noteworthy that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a former NSITF managing director, Umar Munir Abubakar, and four others for alleged diversion of N18bn of the said money. The EFCC has also questioned and detained a former NSITF chairman, Dr. Ngozi Ojeleme, for alleged diversion of over $48m from the agency’s account.

    After Ngige inaugurated the API, a report said an attempt was made to bribe the minister. It quoted a source as saying: “In the attempt to stop the administrative probe, some of those implicated sent an emissary to the minister to forget the past and gloss over the fraud which borders on diversion of PAYEE, pension funds and other remittances. They offered a $4million bribe cash to be paid in two tranches to halt the inquiry and spare the suspects. They were really desperate to cover up. The minister rejected the bait and told the front of the suspects that he would never be part of any under-the-table deal to cover up the looting of workers’ entitlements. The desperation made the minister suspicious that there was more to the fraud in the system than meets the eye. We believe the administrative inquiry will assist the government to uncover the rot in NSITF. “Ngige reportedly confirmed the bribe offer. Who tried to bribe him?  Why did he not get those involved arrested?

    It looked like a story to justify the delay in inaugurating the Kokori-led board. The quoted source said: “Actually, the ongoing probe of NSITF delayed the inauguration of the new board of the agency headed by Comrade Frank Kokori. In fact, going by the latest revelations, some labour leaders have been fingered in the scam. These leaders were discovered to have influenced the nomination of one or two members of the board in order to cover up their tracks. Some members of the new board need security checks in the light of the revelations from the investigation by the EFCC. There is no way the new board will be inaugurated in the present circumstances in NSITF. We need to clean up the system for the new board to have a better take-off.”

    What this means is that Ngige’s one-man show will continue. Observers have noted that without a proper board, there are serious issues that cannot be properly addressed. For instance, alleged wrong employment of persons that are 50 years old and above and alleged payment of monthly salaries to some people who had retired and were drawing pension  but were given fresh employment and were currently earning salaries.  It is said that a significant number of the affected people are from Ngige’s ethnic group, so he would not allow action to be taken. Another allegation against Ngige:  “He also directed us to send the letters of the employed staff which we refused to release at our end to his office. Let’s see what he wants to do with the letters.”

    In addition, there is the issue of the report of proper placement, which is reportedly gathering dust on Ngige’s table.  There is also the story of alleged secret employment into the already bloated workforce of the Fund, which is said to be ongoing.  A worried NSITF employee said: “My worry is that some of us with Retirement Savings Account with Trustfund are in the soup. Management is in arrears of funding our PFA.”

    The question is:  For how long will Ngige continue to waste time by not inaugurating a proper board for NSITF?

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • New minimum wage to be ready before September ending – Ngige

    New minimum wage to be ready before September ending – Ngige

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said on Monday that a new national minimum wage for Nigerian workers would be announced by the Federal Government before the end of the third quarter of this year.

    The minister’s announcement came just as the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, warned against attempt by individuals and group to frustrate the ongoing negotiation for a new national minimum wage.

    He said such action would not augur well for industrial harmony in the country.

    Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 40th anniversary celebration of the NLC in Abuja, the minister said while the new national minimum wage negotiation may be concluded before the third quarter, the committee put in place by the President has set a time line of the third quarter to conclude its work and make available to Nigerians a new minimum wage.

    Ngige’s announcement was greeted by a loud chant of “no, no no” from the workers who felt that the new minimum wage was taking too long to be achieved.

    The minister also announced that in line with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions 144 on tripartite consultation, the government would put in place the Nigeria Labour Advisory Council before the end of the second quarter.