The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday alleged that there was a military presence at the venue of its meeting with the Federal Government as both parties try to find an end to the impasse that has trailed attempts to reach an agreement on minimum wage for workers in the country.
However, the army denied the allegation, saying the presence of military personnel was due to the attendance of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who was accompanied by his statutorily approved military escorts.
The Guardian reports that the NLC, in a post on X, claimed that soldiers were surrounding the premises of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, where the discussions were taking place.
“Soldiers are presently surrounding the venue of the meeting between Labour and Government at the premises of the SGF,” the NLC stated on its official X handle.
The umbrella body for workers in the country had earlier issued a warning against what it tagged as any attempts to intimidate, provoke, or blackmail its leaders during the negotiation process, cautioning that such actions could exacerbate tensions.
“Any attempt to intimidate, provoke, or blackmail our leaders at the negotiation table will be resisted, and strike action will further be prolonged,” the NLC warned.
In response, the Nigerian Army issued a statement shortly after, denying the NLC’s allegations.
It urged the public to disregard what it termed a “deliberate and misleading falsehood” regarding the presence of military escorts at the meeting.
The statement read, “The attention of Army Headquarters has been drawn to a false breaking news by NLC alleging that soldiers currently surround the venue of the ongoing meeting between NLC and the SGF.
“Kindly note that the NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who is also attending the meeting, arrived at the meeting venue with his retinue of statutorily approved military escorts. Once the meeting is over, the escorts will lead the NSA from the venue.
“Kindly disregard the deliberate and misleading falsehood being peddled about the presence of the escorts at the meeting.”
The NLC and the federal government have been in talks to resolve disputes over the national minimum wage, which has been long overdue and has resulted in a nationwide strike by the labour union.
The Guardian reports that organised labour declared a nationwide strike over a proposed new minimum wage after a meeting between the tripartite committee on national minimum wage and representatives of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) failed to reach an agreement on a new minimum wage and the reversal of the recent hike in electricity tariffs.
Meanwhile, the federal government had appealed to organised labour to reconsider its planned indefinite strike set to commence today, Monday, June 3.
While the unions are pushing for a new minimum wage of N494,000, the Nigerian government is offering N60,000.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated that the sum of N494,000 national minimum wage being demanded by organised labour, which cumulatively amounts to N9.5 trillion, is capable of destabilising the economy and jeopardising the welfare of over 200 million Nigerians.
Yesterday, in a last-minute effort to avert the strike, leaders of the National Assembly met with representatives of organised labour. However, the meeting ended in a deadlock, with labour unions insisting on going ahead with the strike.
On Monday, the Labour strike disrupted flights, health services, lawmaking as well as judicial activities as the workers downed their tools with sister organisations, including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), joining the strike.
