The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has said that only Abia, Cross River, Zamfara and Taraba States were yet to commence implementation of the national minimum wage.
In a statement, titled ‘The Position of Nigeria Labour Congress On Festering Issues Of National Importance’ signed by the President of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Waba, on Wednesday, it demanded that these States should commence implementation without further delay, adding that acting otherwise was tantamount to breaking Nigeria’s law.
The NLC also restated its full-fledged support for the autonomy of Local Governments, State Houses of Assembly and the Judiciary, stressing that the autonomy of these critical tiers and arms of government would make for effective delivery of good governance and national development.
The statement of the NLC reads in part:
“In further demonstration of our resolve to entrench the autonomy of local governments, state legislatures and the judiciary, we will continue to clamour for the strengthening of the autonomy of these critical institutions of government in the ongoing constitution review and amendment. We will also embark on a number of national actions and campaigns to raise public awareness on this critical issue.
“Ancillary to local government autonomy is the need to strengthen democratic governance at the grassroots. Our experience since the creation of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) is a tale of massive abuse and truncation of free, fair and periodic elections at the local government councils. Nigerian workers support the current amendment to allow the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct local government elections all over Nigeria. We call on all well-meaning Nigerians, especially members of the State Houses of Assembly to look beyond partisan interests and support this patriotic move to restore electoral credibility at the grassroots.”
