Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has insisted that he would not be stampeded into swearing in ex-labour leader, Frank Kokori, as head of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).
He said he would resist every attempt by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to blackmail and arm twist him into submission.
The minister and NLC have been at loggerheads over the inauguration of the board of the NSITF with Kokori as chairman.
Barely 24 hours after suspected thugs allegedly hired by NLC descended on his Abuja residence, Ngige has accused NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, of equating himself to President Muhammadu Buhari because he answers president of NLC, and sees the NLC as the secondary arm of government.
He said the provisions of section 4(a) of the NSITF Act is clear on the sole responsibility of the minister of labour and employment to nominate a neutral, fit and proper person for the approval of the president for the chairmanship of the board. He claimed that Kokori was not nominated because he is not neutral.
President Buhari had last month replaced Kokori with Austin Enajemo-Isire, chartered accountant, professional insurance executive and banker.
He dismissed allegation that he sent thugs to attack workers at his house in Asokoro, as misleading and unfortunate insisting that NLC led by Wabba, were hooligans. He has vowed to sue for arson.
Ngige alleged that Wabba led people to his to his private residence at 4:30am on Wednesday morning and blocked both the entrance to his house and that of his neigbour with two tankers laden with petrol.
He said the workers not only traumatised the occupants of both houses which included children, they also succeeded in preventing his neigbour and his wife from doing their business for the day as they were prevented from leaving their home.
“Well, I just read the dailies today (yesterday) and I saw that story. It is a very fortunate misleading story because the scenario that emerged yesterday (Wednesday) was that I was woken up at 5am by my wife who reported to me that the security men were having problems with some strange fellows at the gate of the house; and that some people were also on the walls of my home, that they arrived there by 4:30am.
“When the security people accosted them, they discovered that it was the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress himself that came physically with two tankers, one laden with petroleum, the second was half empty. One was put at the gate of my house and the second at the gate of my neigbour’s house.
“When I heard the story it was very strange. When I looked from upstairs I saw that the tankers were actually blocking the entrance to my house. I came down and asked for the chief detail who told me the whole story. And it emerged that they even had a scuffle with the president of the NLC when they were struggling for the key to the tanker.
“So I went back and made some calls to the Commissioner of Police FCT, Director SSS and also the Federal Road Safety to see if they could move the vehicles.
“Picketing does not mean that you go to people’s private residence because you don’t know who occupies there. For example, in my home, my wife, my children and the children of my domestic staff and security personnel were trapped. My neighbour, his wife and children couldn’t go out. It is obstruction, it is against the law of the country. Then putting a tanker with petrol is arson, the place can be caught on fire, the entire street could have been engulfed.
“That is not trade unionism, that is hooliganism. I have been preaching that you cannot exchange hooliganism for trade unionism. Trade unionism means you dialogue, you discuss, you talk. That is why we call it social dialogue because you must continue to talk. If you are government you continue to talk, if you are Labour, you continue to talk with your employer and if you are employers you continue engaging them.
“So, I was surprised to read about thugs and people hospitalised, people beaten. I have tried to do some investigations and enquiries and from my preliminary enquiry and the reports I got, it looks like the NLC people disagreed with the people they brought to my house. I understand that they were contracted to work till 10am, which is council time, the aim being to obstruct me from going to council. I left my house at 8 o’clock, a friend picked me up and I was able to make it to council.
“So, I am distraught, my family is traumatised, the people in my house are traumatised, my domestic staff with families are traumatised, even my neigbour and his wife couldn’t do their business for the day. Those tankers were removed around 6pm.”
Asked if he was planning to take any action, the minister said: “my neigbour said he is going to take legal action. I will also take legal action, illegal actions are actionable, nobody is above the law…
“The Labour people led by Wabba feel they are secondary arm of government and because he answers president of NLC, he equates himself with the president of Nigeria. But there is only one sovereign authority of Federal Republic of Nigeria and for today by the grace of God, (that) is President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The Act setting up the NSITF gave Labour two nominees, private sector under NECA two nominees. Labour appropriated the two for NLC and made a nomination and government has also made a nomination. What we are doing now is that we have proposed and the government has approved a fit and neutral person, not a government officer, not a Labour coloured man and not a private sector man.”
He denied having anything personal against Kokori.
However, NLC is not relenting as it has concluded plans to stage a mass rally in Abuja against Ngige will on Monday May 13.
Wabba, who briefed the media after an emergency meeting of the NLC Central Working Committee convened to review the attacks suffered in an attempt to picket the minister,
said workers will be mobilised from all branches in Abuja for the rally.
“We agreed to engage Ngige anywhere we see him. We have directed workers to picket him since he had decided to engage Nigerian workers by sending thugs to attack us.”
Labour called on the Federal Government to come out and tell Nigerians why the NSITF board under Kokori should not be inaugurated.