NLC Accuses Lalong of Trying to Scuttle Agreement With Government

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC has accused the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong of trying to scuttle the implementation of the recent agreement it had with the Federal Government.

While accusing the minister of taking sides in the crisis rocking the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, the NLC warned that Nigerians would hold the minister responsible if the situation results in a national industrial crisis.

In a statement signed by its General Secretary, Mr Emmanuel Ugboaja, the NLC said that the government was giving support to the illegal faction of the NURTW and encouraging them to conduct their own delegates conference at both zonal and national levels to confer legitimacy to their action.

He noted that the Federal Minister of Labour has thrown a spanner in the wheel of the implementation of the labour-federal government agreement by what they called his unmasked partiality in handling a critical item in the agreement, which is meddling in trade union matters by siding with people who had illegally seized the NURTW headquarters with police support.

The NLC also noted that it was clear that the Federal Government never negotiated in good faith and, consequently, was never genuinely committed to honouring the terms of the October 2, 2023 agreement