At Second FEC Meeting, Tinubu’s Government Moves To Avert Strike

• Approves 30-day MoU Implementation Plan With Labour Unions
• FEC Meeting To Hold Every Monday Now

In a bid to avert an industrial action from the Organised Labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Federal Executive Council, (FEC), on Monday approved a 30-day implementation plan for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Federal Government and the Organized Labour.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong made this disclosure during the briefing of State House Correspondents at the end of the Council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu, at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

With this approval, the government hoped that any external interference in union activities would not be tolerated.

Lalong disclosed that a Memorandum of Understanding was presented to the council on the implementation of the agreement with labour.

He said, “We presented a memo from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and the memo was basically on the agreement between government and the labour. You are already aware that 15 items are parts of the agreement.

“But we went beyond mere agreement, we told them that something different is happening this time because one, part of the agreement is to file it in the court of law which we have set the process already.

“And the other one was the presidential approval. There cannot be any presidential approval more than the Federal Executive Council. So, we presented them to the Federal Executive Council. We analyzed each and every aspect of the agreement to show its genuineness and also provide for a harmonious and good industrial relationship and that was why it was presented and it was approved for implementation.

“It was agreed that within 30 days, there must be evidence of implementation and that was the basis of presenting to the Federal Executive Council the memo the Federal Executive Council also approved it and within these 30 days, we will go on with the implementation of the agreement between labour and government.”

Addressing the sixth item of the MoU that has to do with the government’s alleged interference in the activities of the democratically elected leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW and the mandate to him (Lalong) to resolve the crisis in the union on or before October 13, the Minister said he had already met with the various factions

He said, “Item six in the MoU is about interference specifically with issues that were about road transport workers. Immediately the next day, we embarked on meetings between the two organisations.

“As of today, they have already reached out and have concluded that of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), today they are making a report to the ministry about their agreement because they went into agreement too and we are also going to get back to their parent association.

“The next one is the NURTW. Last week we were with them. Of course, if some of you were there, you knew why we postponed it, I reminded them that we are keeping to the date of the agreement but they said they cannot strictly keep to the date because it is very important to them that we realized the aim. So we shifted the meeting till tomorrow (Tuesday). Today, we are going to get the report, and by tomorrow we will fix a meeting.

“The reason why we presented these items to the Federal Executive Council is for them to note and approve that after these things we will not want to be tolerating interference into union activities.

“But those that are pending are within the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment. Our own is to dispense with conflicts and we are going to continue to do that and these two items we have mentioned were really the particular things they hammered on when we met. By God’s grace in the next few days, those ones are going to be sorted out.”

Meanwhile, the weekly FEC meeting that hitherto held on Wednesdays will now take place every Monday, President Tinubu has disclosed.

At the second FEC meeting, held today, President Bola Tinubu, swore in three additional ministers into his 48-member cabinet.

The brief swearing-in ceremony took place at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, before the commencement of the meeting, which is the second in Tinubu’s administration.

This is coming nearly two weeks after the Senate cleared the trio after screening on October 4.