Human Rights Lawyer Inibehe Effiong Slams “Vaguely Drafted” Agreement between NLC and Government, Says It’s a Joke If Strike is Called Off

Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong has offered his legal perspective on the agreement that was recently struck between the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Federal Government.

Taking to his Facebook page, Inibehe Effiong did not mince words as he expressed his disappointment with the agreement between the NLC and the Nigerian government. In his post, Effiong called the document “vaguely drafted,” citing a glaring lack of clarity on two crucial issues: the reduction of electricity tariffs and a definitive pronouncement on the new national minimum wage.

He wrote, “This a vaguely drafted agreement that doesn’t address the two key demands.

“It is silent on electricity tariff, and has no definitive statement on a new national minimum wage.”

Continuing his critique, Effiong warned that if the NLC were to call off the strike based on the current agreement, it would leave the door wide open for the government to implement only a token increase in the minimum wage—as little as N60,050. According to Effiong, this would represent a failure on the part of the labor movement to seize this crucial moment to secure meaningful reform.

“f you call off the strike based on what’s stated here, it means the minimum wage can be N60,050.

“The labour unions should be serious for once.”, he added.

Earlier reports had revealed how the Nigerian government signed an agreement with the Organised Labour after the government promised that President Bola Tinubu was committed to a national minimum wage above N60,000.

The agreement was signed after six hours of meeting on Monday.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, announced this after the meeting with the labour leaders in Abuja which started at 5 pm and ended a few minutes to 11 pm.

The agreement stated, “The President of Nigeria, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, is committed to establishing a National Minimum Wage higher than N60,000; and the Tripartite Committee will convene daily for the next week to finalise an agreeable National Minimum Wage.”

The organised labour also agreed to “immediately hold meetings of its organs to consider this new offer, and no worker would face victimisation as a consequence of participating in the industrial action.”

These resolutions were signed on behalf of the Federal Government by Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha.

The organised labour comprising the NLC and TUC had declared an indefinite nationwide strike over the inability of the federal government to pay Nigerian workers a living wage.

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