NLC set for showdown with Amosun over labour leaders’ sacking

The Nigeria Labour Congress has vowed to resist the dismissal of the Ogun state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Akeem Ambali, and his Vice-Chairman, Dare Ilekoya, who is also the state Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, by the State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun.

The Ogun State Government also dismissed 14 workers and suspended 18 others, who are mostly teachers, for alleged misconduct during the 2016 World Teachers’ Day celebration on October 5, 2016, in Abeokuta.

The General Secretary of the NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, told The news men on the telephone on Tuesday that the decision of the state governor was an illegality, which the labour movement would resist.

Ozo-Eson said a combined team of labour leaders from the NLC and the Trade Union Congress had been dispatched to Abeokuta to intervene in the matter.

The NLC’s scribe, who called on the governor to reverse the decision to dismiss workers, stressed the action could result in industrial crisis in the state.

He said, “Well, clearly, the purported sacking is rejected by us in the congress. There are issues that have been outstanding between organised labour in the state and the government and instead of the government to deal with the issues, it is going on high-handed decision to sack people; that can’t be.

“Today, our team is already in the state to talk with them. But clearly, the purported sacking is unacceptable and it is irregular, and we will resist it.

“The NLC and the TUC’s combined team has already been dispatched to the state to intervene in the matter.”

When asked what the organised labour would do if the governor refused to recall the sacked workers, he said, “It means he has declared an industrial war and we will have no choice but to also ensure that industrial peace does not return to the state because such a sacking is illegal and we cannot allow it to happen.”

Also, the embattled state chairman of the NLC, Ambali, said the National President of the NLC, Mr. Ayuba Wabba; his TUC counterpart, Boboi Kaigama, and the leaders of the National Joint Negotiating Council would attend a rally by labour in Abeokuta on Wednesday (today).

The rally, he said, would hold at the state secretariat of the NLC on Abiola Way in the capital city.

Speaking with one of our correspondents on the telephone on Tuesday, the labour leader stated that Wabba, Kaigama and the national president of the NJNC among others, would be in the state to address the workers.

The state chairman, TUC, Olubunmi Fajobi, also confirmed to The news men that apart from the national presidents of the NLC, TUC and JNC, the national presidents of NULGE and the NUT would also be at the rally.

Organised labour, made up of the state chapters of the NLC, TUC and the JNC, had ordered workers in the state to proceed on an indefinite strike demanding payment of 12 months unions’ check-off dues; 12 months of deductions of bank loans repayment, cooperative savings and Ileya/festival savings.

Other demands of the workers are the remittance of the workers’ contributory pension deductions; gradual payment of retirees’ gratuities and the payment of 16 months salaries of workers of the Tai Solarin College of Education, Omu-Ijebu.

Ambali ruled out the issue of police permit, alleging that over 50 armed policemen had laid siege to the NLC secretariat since the commencement of the strike on Thursday, October 20, 2016.

But the Ogun State Police Command said on Tuesday that the NLC must get a police permit before embarking on the rally on Wednesday (today).

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said this in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents.

He said this became necessary so as to allow the police to give them security cover in order to prevent hoodlums from hijacking the rally.

No worker sacked over strike –Amosun

Also, Amosun said no worker was sacked over the two-week-old strike in the state.

He said this was contrary to insinuations in some quarters that the governor ordered the dismissal of some civil servants due to the ongoing strike.

This was contained in a statement by the Senior Special Adviser on Media to the governor, Adejuwon Soyinka, on Tuesday.

He said the affected civil servants were alleged to have been involved in certain acts of misconduct in the course of the 2016 World Teachers’ Day celebration on October 5, 2016, which was before the ongoing strike.

The statement read in part, “Contrary to such claims, what truly transpired is that the Ogun State Civil Service Commission, in furtherance of its statutory responsibility of maintaining discipline and adherence to public service rules and extant regulations, on Monday, took the decision to sanction some civil servants.

“The affected civil servants were alleged to have been involved in certain acts of misconduct in the course of the 2016 World Teachers’ Day celebration on October 5, 2016, way before the ongoing strike action commenced.

“In a statement on Monday by the Ogun State Head of Service, Sola Adeyemi, the State Civil Service Commission explained that it received complaints from concerned members of the public against some public and civil servants allegedly involved in various acts of misconduct in the course of the 2016 World Teachers’ Day celebration.

“The allegations against the affected civil and public servants include the fact that contrary to extant public service rules, they got involved in partisan politics by publicly admitting receiving money from a politician and also hiring a musician with whom they sang praises of the said politician while chanting political slogans in the course of the World Teachers’ Day celebration.

“To determine the veracity of such complaints and give the affected civil and public servants the opportunity for fair hearing, the Civil Service Commission said it set up an administrative panel of inquiry on October 17, 2016.

“Before arriving at its decisions, the panel issued queries and invited the affected civil servants, who in turn, made written and oral representations.

“After listening to all the parties involved including witnesses as well as reviewing the evidences at its disposal, the panel, in its wisdom, recommended the dismissal of 16 public and civil servants.

“Those recommended for dismissal include the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Akeem Ambali,  and the state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Dare Ilekoya. They were all found to have contravened the Public Service Rules 04401, 04402 (c&d) and 04406 (a) due to their involvement in the political rally they held under the guise of World Teachers’ Day celebration event.

“The panel also recommended the suspension of 19 others while exonerating one Mr. Abiodun Oriyomi Samuel who was said not to have been involved in the alleged partisan act.

From the foregoing, it is clear that the State Civil Service Commission only acted in fulfilment of its statutory responsibility and this has nothing to do with Governor Amosun or the ongoing strike action embarked upon by a section of the workforce in the state.”

Also, the Secretary to the State Government in Ogun State, Taiwo Adeoluwa, told The PUNCH on Tuesday that the sacked civil servants could appeal to the state’s Head of Service on their sackings.

“As for your question whether government will rescind its decision on the sackings and suspension, only the Head of Service can answer that question. If they appeal; I don’t know if they have appealed,” he said.

PDP, groups condemn Amosun’s action, say gov, a dictator

Meanwhile, condemnation continued to greet the sacking of the Ogun State civil servants by various groups and individuals on Tuesday.

The Executive Director, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Mr. Adetokunbo Mumumi, said the sacking of the labour leaders had further shown Amosun’s penchant for behaving as a dictator.

Mumuni recalled that the governor had once sacked some teachers for setting examination questions, which the governor perceived to be critical of his government.

Mumuni, who described Amosun’s latest action as an illegality, called on him to retrace his steps, adding that the governor’s party, the All Progressives Congress, must caution Amosun before he gave the party a bad name.

He stated, “The Governor of Ogun State has, in recent past, demonstrated his penchant for behaving as if we are in a military regime.

“The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees the freedom of expression and to have suspended people because of the way they celebrated the Teachers’ Day shows that the governor is trying to create a situation where, whether we like it or not, everybody must be praising him.

“That is not the intention of democracy. Everybody must have his opinion and must be able to express it without fear or favour.

“It is an illegal thing that the governor has done and my position is that he should retrace his steps. And the APC, as a party, must caution this particular governor, so that all his anti-democratic activities will not have a negative effect on the party.”

Also, a human rights activist and labour lawyer, Mr. Femi Aborisade, expressed concern over the trend in the country, where state governments were clamping down on workers for expressing themselves.

Aborisade, who described such a trend as a reflection of the backward mindset of the ruling class, said he had spoken with labour leaders in Ogun State, adding that he was ready to go to court to defend the workers.

Aborisade said, “It clearly shows that governance in Nigeria is a conspiracy against the interest of ordinary people and this cuts across the two major political parties in Nigeria. “When workers were on strike in Ekiti State, thugs were sent to attack them, they brutalised them. When workers were on strike in Oyo State and their leaders were arrested and taken to court, many workers went to court in solidarity and within the premises of the court in Ibadan, Oyo State, thugs were sent to them; they brutalised them, they traumatised them.

“In Nasarawa State, workers were on strike, protesting peacefully, they were shot; two workers were shot dead. And now in Ogun State, under the APC government, workers marked the World Teachers’ Day and they exercised their right to freedom of expression to complain about the non-payment of wages and salaries and because they critisised the state government, their leaders were sacked.

“It merely shows that the Nigerian rulers perceive the various states they govern as their personal estates and that it is whatever they say, whatever they think and whatever they do, that is right and whatever other people say or do must be wrong and must be sanctioned. “This perception, this philosophy of governance, is not in tune with modern day governance; it is a reflection of the backward ruling class that does not deserve to remain in power.

“They want to bring about a slave society wherein if workers are not paid, their families are hungry, their children drop out of school, they must not complain – we reject that and we are in solidarity with the fighting workers in Ogun State and in all other states.

“I have spoken personally to the Chairman of the Ogun State NLC, Akeem Ambali, that we are ready to defend them legally because they are being persecuted for standing to defend the right of the ordinary people.”

 In its reaction, the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, under the leadership of Adebayo Dayo, also on Tuesday, condemned the sacking of the civil servants.

The party said it found the grounds of the sacking inexcusable, baseless and reckless.

This was contained in a statement by the state Publicity Secretary of the PDP faction, Bolaji Adeniji.

It called on the state government to rescind its decisions on the workers.

The statement read in part, “We are further scandalised at government’s defence and rationalisation of the sacking, claiming it was the outcome of an administrative panel of inquiry into the activities of the affected officers during the October 5, 2016 World Teachers’ Day celebration, where they were indicted to have ‘got involved in partisan politics by receiving monies from politicians and hiring a musician to sing the praises of politicians present at the event’, which to government, are contrary to extant public service rules.

“The PDP finds the grounds of the sacking as inexcusable, baseless and reckless, which may not be unconnected with the ongoing workers strike called by the labour leaders.

“What government has forgotten is that, whereas, the public service rules clearly stipulate terms of engagement for workers, it is not superior to the federal constitution which guarantees the freedom of expression and association among other liberal rights.”

The PDP added, “Government needs to be educated that, the union of teachers is not a government body and in celebrating such a day, the teachers are at liberty to invite any freeborn citizen of this state or even beyond to celebrate with them.

“Government also need to be educated that the World Teachers’ Day is not a civil service function but a social event of like-minded people that can attract just anybody irrespective of their social or political leanings; except, of course, the government is saying civil servants must compulsorily be members of the APC.

“The PDP is using this medium to call on responsible citizens and elder statesmen from Ogun State to caution this faltering administration and immediately reverse the draconian decision to sack civil servants for exercising their rights.”