Labour
JOHESU Gives 15-day Ultimatum to FG

From Alfred Babs, Ilorin
The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) has issued a 15- day ultimatum to the Federal Government to accede to its request or risk another nationwide strike in the health sector.
National Chairman of the union, Comrade Biobelemoye Joy Josiah gave the ultimatum in Ilorin on Saturday at the 27th National Executive Council meeting of the National Pharmaceutical Technologists and Pharmacy Technicians of Nigeria (NAPTTON).
The union said that the ultimatum commenced midnight of yesterday and will expire on Sunday, September 13, 2020.
Josiah, who is also the President of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), said Federal Government had exhausted the union’s endurance level.
He Said: “We have given 15 days ultimatum to the Federal Government as required by law. Letters have been sent to the government and we have got acknowledgement from the government to that effect. But the count starts from midnight Sunday and it is expected to expire by September13th, 2020. That is when the strike will commence if the Federal Government refuses to accede to our laid out demands that date back to 2014
“For instance government entered into agreement with us on COHESS adjustment precisely September 20th, 2017. The adjustment should have taken place within five weeks. You know how many weeks it has translated into from 2017 till now. Again, we even have some court judgments in favour of some members of JOHESU but the government is not doing that.
“Lately, we entered into an agreement over this COVID-19 issue as regards inducement and hazard allowance in which paragraph 1(a) of that agreement is explicit. It states that the Federal Government is shelving N5000 hazard allowance and in its place it approved 50 percent consolidated basic as hazard allowance for special COVID-19 pandemic for all health workers without any form of discrimination.
“Yet at the point of implementation Federal Ministry of Health issued a circular that negated the spirit and letter of that agreement. We made our complaints and the Federal Ministry of Health invited us and said we were right. At a meeting with the Minister of state for Health and others it was agreed that the non-implementation was done in error.
“They requested that we should forward to them the list of those that have been short-paid and financial implications. As it stands today, they paid the hazard allowance of June 2020 without correcting the errors.
“We are seeing that as a deliberate provocation of health workers. Not that we cannot react but we put Nigerians first. It is clear here that the public health practice is the only sector that can save citizens of poor third world countries like ours.
“COVID-19 has come. It is the public health institutions that are involved. If you see any private hospital doing it before, it comes in and they might have discussed whether they would run at a loss or profit. That is why it is very important that FG does not allow JOHESU to down tool, because we know the consequences if we down tool.
“All along we have been trying to mitigate the situation but now it is going beyond our endurance level. We have limited as I have said. Government is taking our empathy, compassion and patriotism for weakness and stupidity.”
Economy
Council Chairman Commends FG on Coastal Highway Project in Cross River.

From Ene Asuquo, Calabar
The Executive Chairman of Akamkpa Local Government Area, Hon. Felix Akposi has commended the Federal Government for the commencement of the Cross River State axis of the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, describing the project as a monumental infrastructural breakthrough with vast potential for economic transformation across the state.
In a statement released to the press, Hon.
Akposi noted that Akamkpa, being among the host local government areas of the coastal highway, will strategically leverage the project to advance its developmental frontiers. He envisioned a rapid transformation in the area marked by the emergence of new towns, urban conurbations, and epicenters of agricultural and social tourism.According to the Chairman, “The intersection of the coastal highway with the Calabar–Ikom Highway will be a commercial hub, hence we are proposing an organized layout within the area. Accordingly, the Works and Infrastructure Unit of the Local Government Council is to synergize with the State Government and the Federal Ministry of Works to plan the layout within the axis.”
He further added, “We know that the demand for land within this axis will be very high in the coming days, hence it’s best to have a neatly planned layout before people will deface the area.”
Hon. Akposi used the opportunity to express deep appreciation to the Governor of Cross River State, His Excellency Sen. (Apostle) Prince Bassey Edet Otu, for what he described as proactive and pragmatic leadership. He described the governor as a strategic leader under whose watch the state has witnessed remarkable developmental strides.
“Just recently, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Sen. Kashim Shettima, was here for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Special Agro Processing Zone in Adiabo. Today, we have yet another Federal presence in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Cross River State axis of the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway,” Akposi stated.
JUDICIARY
LG Autonomy: Supreme Court Judgment Meets Constitutional Order- Edeoga

Former Governorship Candidate of the Labour Party(LP) for the 2023 elections in Enugu State, Hon Chijioke Edeoga has hailed the Thursday ruling of the Supreme Court, which granted financial autonomy to the nation’s 774 LGAs.
Edeoga, in reaction to the judgment said in a statement in Abuja that the judgment was in line with the existing constitutional order.
“While it is suspected that the judgment may not meet the approval of advocates of political restructuring in Nigeria, there is no doubt that it accords with the demands of the existing constitutional order.
“The violation of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by governors of Nigerian states has been going on with flagrant impunity for many years and under different administrations since 1999.
“Local Government Areas, recognized in the Nigerian Constitution as the third tier of government and the one closest to the people, have been deprived of the funds needed for grassroots development, thus existing at the mercy of state governors,” he remarked.
He regretted that over the years, state governors have made local government funds their cash cows, receiving and dispensing as they deemed fit, and without regard to the development imperatives of the councils, their employees, and their respective peculiar development challenges.
“This abuse has given rise to situations where local councils are forced to queue on a strange breadline, where governors favour some local governments while sidelining others.
“The offices of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-corruption agencies are stacked with files bursting with evidence of abuse of local council funds by state governors, whose prosecution has been hindered by red tape and other inexplicable reasons” he noted.
The former Governorship candidate recalled that during his campaign for the Governorship of Enugu State, he highlighted the deplorable management of local council funds in Enugu State and vowed that council funds would be sacrosanct if he won the election.
He said as a former local government Chairman, he knew the importance of those funds and the leverage they provide for rural development, employment generation, and economic empowerment.
“My belief is that rather than treat council funds as a source of free money as most state governors see them, I would ensure easy and direct access to it by council chairmen as a means of ensuring that local government councils become complementary to the state government’s development efforts,” he stressed.
He said his intention upon assumption of office was to empower Local councils and noted that the judgment will minimize the tendency of some governors and state officials to favour their local governments of origin while sidelining others.
“I am particularly relieved that the administration of President Bola Tinubu has taken this rare positive step towards restoring the glories of local administration in Nigeria. “Those of us in the Enugu State chapter of the Labour Party see this as a step in the right democratic direction and must single out President Tinubu and the Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, for pursuing this judgement with a single-minded determination and patriotic purposefulness.
“While we commend the current administration for the rare courage and vision deployed in pursuit of this case, we must also advise against allowing the judgement to form another layer of entry in our Case Laws. Nigerians are excited by the judgement and are looking forward to the restoration it would bring to bear on rural development across the country, and would be displeased if deliberate political, judicial, and institutional efforts are not made to ensure that implementation.”
“This judgement, it must be emphasised, is a PUBLIC INTEREST MATTER and has reignited hope of a possible grassroots development renaissance among the progressive-minded people that are interested in the development of Nigeria and the wellbeing of everyone” he stated.
COVER
Minimum Wage: Labour Rules Out Strike, Awaits Tinubu’s Nod

By David Torough, Abuja
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has ruled out strike action earlier scheduled for Tuesday (today) to demand a new national minimum wage.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, made this known yesterday during the ongoing International Labour Conference taking place in Geneva, Switzerland.
Ajaero said organised labour cannot embark on strike today because the figures presented by the tripartite committee on minimum wage were with President Bola Tinubu.
He clarified that the submission of N62,000 as proposed by the government and the organized employers’ body with labour proposing N250,000 does not translate to labour accepting N62,000 as the new minimum wage.
“The tripartite committee submitted two figures to the President. Government and employers proposed N62,000 while labour proposed N250,00o. We are waiting for the decision of the President. Our National Executive Council (NEC) will deliberate on the new figure when it is out.
“We cannot declare a strike now because the figures are with the President. We will wait for the President’s decision.
“During the tenure of the immediate past President, the figure that was proposed to him was N27,000 by the tripartite committee but he increased it to N30,000. We are hopeful that this President will do the right thing. The President had noted that the difference between N62,000 and N250,000 is a wide gulf,” he said.
The NLC president also berated state governors under the umbrella body of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum for rejecting the N62,000 minimum wage proposal.
“How can any governor say he cannot pay? They cannot also be calling for the decentralization of the minimum wage.
“Are there wages decentralized? Governors whose states are not contributing a dime to the national purse and who generate pitiable Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) are collecting the same amount as governors whose states are generating billions of dollars into the FAAC.
“They should decentralize their salaries and emoluments first.
“So, where is the governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki getting his money from? He is paying N70,000 minimum wage. This is the type of governor that should be emulated and not the lazy ones,” he added.