At “A Roundtable on Decent Work Situation in Nigeria” yesterday in Abuja, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Ayuba Wabba, condemned that the registration of new unions – CONUA and NAMDA, especially CONUA, was in violation of the nation’s Labour laws. When the Federal Government issues letters of recognition to the new unions on Tuesday, the government said in the letters, that the unions could co-exist with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the university system.
Ayuba while addressing reporters, warned that the new registration of the two unions will bring about serious confusion in the university system. He highlighted that the Labour Act clearly states that before a union is registered, it ought to be published in the National Gazette, after which objections were to be observed for a period of three months. These were not done by the Federal Government and therefore, it is a violation of the law.
The NLC President, said that they will be writing to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, to call his attention to the Labour law; regardless of the reasons associated. He urged the Federal Government to respect the provision of the Labour Act on the registration of a new union.
