Tina Amanda
Port Harcourt Zonal Chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Peter Onita, has condemned the actions of Governor Nasir El-Rufai against the labour Union in Kaduna state, saying he awaits directives from National body to shutdown labour services in the Rivers state.
Comrade Onita, who stated this in an interview with our correspondent, while reacting to the situation in Kaduna state and the bounty placed on the labour leader Comrade Ayuba Wabba, explained that the NLC Leader has every right to engage on issues affecting Nigerian workers.
He said the failure of the government to address and resolve issues confronting Nigerian workers such as retrenchment, intimidation amongst others are the root cause of labours problems.
He, however, emphasized that the Nigerian workers are suffering greatly which must be addressed urgently.
“The actions of Governor El-Rufai is condemnable, Comrade Wabba as NLC President represent the workers of Nigeria which Kaduna is also inclusive. There are lots of issues that have led to what the Nigerian Labour Congress is doing.
“As labour Union, we are aware labour has tried all effort to engage with the government, it is the failure of this engagement that caused actions of the Union workers in Kaduna state.
“We as PENGASSAN under TUC are synergizing with NLC, we are awaiting directives from the National and I am aware they are on consultation. As soon as the consultation is over we at the state level would be told the next action to take.
“As far as I am concerned, Nigerian workers are indeed suffering and the voice that can represent their interest are NLC and TUC, so it is important we address these issues holistically. PENGASSAN is open to discussions just as TUC stated, but we wait for the outcome the National body”
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