Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has stated\u00a0 that Nigerians\u00a0 are
\nno longer\u00a0 happy with the Nigerian Labour Congress\u00a0 (NLC) because\u00a0 of the
\ninfiltration of the congress by political forces.<\/p>\n
The governor stated that\u00a0 the political\u00a0 infiltration\u00a0 of the NLC has made
\nthe congress ineffective and unable to positively\u00a0 respond on issues that
\naffect less privileged Nigerians.<\/p>\n
The governor\u00a0 who spoke\u00a0 on Friday\u00a0 at the Government House Port Harcourt
\nwhen he granted audience\u00a0 to the President of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba
\nsaid the congress is no longer as strong as it used to be because of the
\ndivision\u00a0 within\u00a0 its ranks.<\/p>\n
He said: “Nigerians are\u00a0 not happy with the NLC. With due respect, you
\npeople are now politicians.\u00a0 You\u00a0 are no longer as strong\u00a0 as you\u00a0 use to
\nbe.<\/p>\n
“I remember\u00a0 when Jonathan\u00a0 was President, you wanted to pull heaven down
\njust for the slight removal of petroleum subsidy.\u00a0 Now they have removed
\neverything and nothing\u00a0 has happened “.<\/p>\n
He regretted that the NLC has fallen to the level where it calls for
\nstrike\u00a0 and it records failure.<\/p>\n
“You have allowed politicians to penetrate your ranks and you\u00a0 now have
\ntwo factions. Factionalization is not the best. I urge you to work for the
\nunion to be strong as this is in the interest of the nation “, he said.<\/p>\n
While pledging his support for the\u00a0 NLC, he urged\u00a0 the\u00a0 congress to stand
\nfirm and work for the protection\u00a0 of Nigerians\u00a0 and the country’s
\ndemocracy.<\/p>\n
“Look at what is happening\u00a0 in the country today and nobody is talking.
\nNobody wants to go to jail. If you talk, EFCC will come after you. If you
\ndon’t\u00a0 want EFCC to trouble you, defect to the other party. There was this
\nED Finance of the NDDC, who was a member\u00a0 of the PDP. EFCC was after him,
\nwhen\u00a0 he defected to the\u00a0 other party, they dropped the charges “, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said the\u00a0 country should practice true federalism\u00a0 in all areas
\nincluding the salary\u00a0 structures\u00a0 of the respective states.<\/p>\n
The governor said: “If the new salary\u00a0 structure\u00a0 is agreed, if Rivers
\nState can pay, can Ebonyi State pay? There\u00a0 should not be a uniformed
\ncondition of service.\u00a0 In Nigeria, you are paid same amount of money in
\nLagos as in Kogi State. That is why we cannot\u00a0 get\u00a0 it right.”<\/p>\n
Governor Wike assured the NLC that his administration will continue to
\nresolve\u00a0 all welfare challenges\u00a0 facing workers and retirees.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba commended the governor for
\nthe regular\u00a0 payment of salaries and pensions.<\/p>\n
“We have interfaced with workers and they said you\u00a0 have been regular in
\nthe payment\u00a0 of\u00a0 salaries and pensions.<\/p>\n
“The trade unions asked me to express their gratitude particularly on the
\nissue of regular payment of salaries.\u00a0 This certainly, we have to
\nappreciate because\u00a0 we are aware that in some states, they have
\ndifficulty in that aspect.\u00a0 In some\u00a0 states, they have\u00a0 even contemplated
\nretrenchment “, Comrade Ayuba Wabba said.<\/p>\n
He appealed to the Rivers State Governor to handle the challenges\u00a0 arising
\nfrom recently\u00a0 retired\u00a0 workers, contributory pensions and the irregular
\nmeetings\u00a0 of the Public Service Joint Negotiating Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has stated\u00a0 that Nigerians\u00a0 are no longer\u00a0 happy with the Nigerian Labour Congress\u00a0 (NLC) because\u00a0 of the infiltration of the congress by political forces.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n