NLC Nigeria Minimum Wage Strike: FCT, Zamfara, Others Refuse to Pull Out as 6 States End NLC Strike.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)’s planned December 1 strike may suffer a blow after certain state chapters of the union withdrawn from the intended industrial action.
President Bola Tinubu was said to have authorised a new minimum salary of N70,000 for Nigerian workers in July, with many states agreeing to pay more than that.
However, thirteen states and the Federal Capital Territory have yet to implement the new minimum wage.
Some of the impacted states are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Imo, Nasarawa, Kaduna, and Katsina. Other states include Oyo, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara, Enugu, and the Federal Capital Territory.
Following the non-implementation of the pay structure, the NLC declared a strike in the impacted states.
However, the NLC’s state chapters in Imo, Sokoto, Oyo, Akwa Ibom, and Katsina have withdrew from the planned strike.
The NLC chairmen in these states claimed agreements reached with their respective state administrations as their basis for withdrawing.
Hussaini Danduna, the NLC Chairman in Katsina State, indicated that workers in the state would not participate in the scheduled industrial action.
He clarified: “We have signed an agreement with the Katsina State Government, and based on this, we are not going to join the strike action declared by the national executive council of our union.”
Uche Chigaemezu, the NLC Chairman in Imo, also stated on Saturday that there were no plans to go on strike.
Chigaemezu stated, “We cannot consider going on strike because we have reached an agreement with the state government, led by Governor Hope Uzodimma.”
“He has demonstrated a commitment to paying the N70,000 minimum wage to Imo workers.
We have informed our viewpoint to the national body, and they are aware of the government’s determination to pay the minimum wage shortly.”
Other states, including Kaduna, Nasarawa, Zamfara, and the Federal Capital Territory, have announced their involvement in the strike. The Abia State chapter of the body is yet unresolved.
Meanwhile, the NLC national leadership has vowed that the strike will continue as planned, despite the departure of certain state chapters.
The NLC National Treasurer, Akeem Ambali, stated that labour had mobilised its affiliate unions across the country and urged their leadership to prepare their members for industrial action in states that have yet to adopt the new minimum wage.
Ambali also chastised nations who had just made verbal commitments without official agreements or implementation, stating that such states would not be exempt from industrial action.
