DISGRUNTLED POLITICIANS STOCKPILING ARMS TO SCUTTLE 2019 POLLS – SECURITY CHIEFS

Security chiefs have raised the alarm that disgruntled politicians are stockpiling arms to scuttle the 2019 general elections.

They made this claim in their presentation to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday during their National Security Council meeting.

In attendance were all the service chiefs – the chiefs of army staff Gen Tukur Buratai; air staff, Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar; naval staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas, and defence staff, Gen Gabriel  Olonisakin, as well as the director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Magaji Bichi; the inspector general of police, Ibrahim Kpotun Idris; the minister of defence, Mansur Dan Ali, and national security adviser, Gen Babagana Monguno.

The chief of defence staff, Gen Olonisakin, who made the presentation on behalf of the service chiefs, said the country’s security architecture was primed to ensure violence-free general elections next year.

According to him, the security bosses discussed the general overview of the security situation in the country as it relates to the conduct of the forthcoming 2019 general elections.

Expressing concern over the possibility of post-election violence, the security chiefs alleged that desperate politicians may whip up ethno-religious sentiment to create security situation in the country

They recommended the deployment of security agencies to states to ensure the peaceful and smooth conduct of the elections, to douse tension created by the outcome of the political parties’ primaries and to thwart the plan of some desperate persons to sabotage the electoral process.

“The meeting also discussed attempts to put pressure on  the electoral body by some notable personalities through demonstrations, which was brought under control by the combined efforts of security agencies, to avoid it from being hijacked by hoodlums and armed bandits.

“Another area of security concern includes post-election violence, as desperate politicians may whip up ethno-religious sentiments to create security situation in the country.

“Also of concern is the proliferation and stockpiling of weapons by some disgruntled elements with a desire to take the law into their hands at the slightest opportunity,” he said.

Olonisakin further stated that the Council called for the concerted efforts of all security agencies to ensure that 2019 elections are hitch free, just as it stressed the need for continuous sensitisation of the public by National Orientation Agency (NOA) and regular meetings of relevant stakeholders including INEC, international/ local observers and the media ahead of the elections.

WE’RE NOT OPPOSED TO NEW MINIMUM WAGE, SAY GOVS

THE thirty- Six (36) state governors under the aegis of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF said Thursday that they were not in any way opposed to new minimum wage for workers in the country.

Governors Forum meeting: Director General, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Asishana Okauru, Kano state Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, Governor of Ekiti State Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Logo state Governor,  Yaya Belly,  during Governors Forum Meeting in Abuja yesterday. 
Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan

Rising from a meeting in Abuja Thursday, the governors who noted that the Organised Labour was right to agitate for salary increase, however said that their concern is the ability to implement it and pay, adding that the problem was not just about agreeing to a figure, but the availability of resources to meet up with the commitment.

Speaking to Journalists after the meeting in Abuja, governor of Zamfara State and Chairman of NGF, Abdulaziz Yari stressed that with the present minimum wage at N18,000, many states were struggling to pay with some of them already hugely indebted.

The Organized Labour is asking for N30,000 whereas the government is offering N24,000.

Yari said: “Like we said, we can do minimum wage on any amount we need but the issue is the ability to pay the minimum wage agreed in the last meeting which the Minister of Labour attended with the negotiation committee and also the committe that we also set up.

“We made it clear that we are not against the upward review of salary, we are in tandem with the NLC to get the minimum wage reviewed but the problem we are having is the capacity to pay what is agreed .

“As at today, most of the states are struggling to pay the N18,000 minimum wage. Some states are paying between 35 to 50% of the minimum wage and some states are owing salary arears.

“If we say we are going to do an upward review of the minimum wage, it is not about only reviewing it but how we are going to get the resources to cater for it.”

">Lago Governors Forum meeting : From left, Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode chatting with Nasarawa State Deputy Governor, Silas Agara and Edo state Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Philip Shaibu during Governors Forum Meeting in Abuja yesterday. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan

Meanwhile, the National President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, was invited to brief the Forum on states’ performance in the use of London and Paris Club refunds.

It would be recalled that the Federal Government disbursed the fund to states with the condition to use larger percentage of the money to pay workers’ salaries.

Speaking further, Yari said, “Also, sometimes ago, London and Paris Club refund was paid and part of the agreement was that we will deal with the issues of workers and it was a serious agreement that we signed with the Minister of Finance and the Federal government that the larger chunk of the money will be channeled to payment of salaries .

“Some states are in the process but one of the conditions critically accepted is to ensure that this funds was utilised acccording to the agreement.

“We invited the National President of the Nigerian Labour Congress to give us a details on how some states have performed. Some states that are not up to date have signed an MOU with the NLC and their representatives in states on how they can overcome the issue of salary arears and that has been done and it will be taken to the CBN so that those states will be paid.”

Also speaking to reporters after the meeting, Wabba who insisted that workers cannot continue to provide services on empty stomach, said that even though Labour was prepared to dialogue on the minimum wage issue, but there is limit to it.

Wabba said: “All through history of minimum wage in Nigeria, it has never been given on a platter of gold. We thought the situation has changed, things have improved, and therefore, through collective bargaining and dialogue, we will be able to reach a compromise.

“If we do that, fine and good. Where that is not done, you should also know that no worker can continue to work on an empty stomach. That has been our message. We will continue to dialogue but there is also a limit to dialogue.”

The NLC boss noted that the challenge in the Nigerian economy especially the eroding of the purchasing power of the worker caused by continuous devaluation of the naira, the exchange rate, the increase in pump price of petrol and electricity tariff, have affected the Nigerian worker.

Wabba who observed that by law, the minimum wage ought to have been reviewed as far back as 2016 as previously agreed, said, “All these factors put together necessitated the NLC and organized Labour to demand for a new minimum wage which is in tandem with best global practice.

“What we are telling the Governors is that the minimum wage is due and everybody must be committed to it, committed to it in the sense that every state was given an opportunity to…when the (negotiation) committee finished its work, we wrote individually to the state governments to send in input.

“Twenty one states responded in writing. Some quoted figures, some said, whatever is agreed, they are going to pay. Some have made statements that they are going to pay.

“So, for anybody to come under a platform and say ‘well, we have issue with that,’ I think the best thing is to go back to their states, put your workers together and say ‘I will not be able to pay. That is what I think is honourable, that is what I think is supposed to be done.”

However, the Labour leader said that he pleaded with the governors that they should understand that the workers must earn a living from their salary as they provide critical services in the system.

…WE Will RESIST NO WORK NO PAY POLICY – NLC

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it would resist any attempt by the federal government to implement a No Work No Pay policy.

NLC president, Ayuba Wabba while reacting to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) white paper on No Work, No Pay policy said workers would also implement a No Pay No Work policy.

He said, “The right to strike is a human and trade union right and can not be wished away, that’s why strike is legalized by our laws, and had been excised since colonial era to date.

“The right to strike is what differentiate a worker from a slave. Just like the right to strike, right to picketing, the right to work”.

He said that it is morally and legally wrong to apply a phrase in a body of law without respecting all other provisions of the same law, adding that the same law provides that a workers wage is due after 30 days, “where this and or any collective bargaining agreement is violated it is legally and morally justifiable for unions and workers to apply “No pay No Work.”

He warned that the threat of no work no pay can not therefore deter workers and trade unions from exercising the right to strike.

“There are clear procedures provided by law to embark on a strike, once the legal requirement is met no work no pay can not apply”, he said.

DRC EBOLA OUTBREAK NOT GLOBAL EMERGENCY YET –WHO

A deadly Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is deeply worrying, but does not yet merit being labelled a global health emergency, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

“Based on the current context… the committee recommended that the current Ebola outbreak in DRC does not constitute a public health emergency of international concern,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“I have accepted the recommendation of the committee,” he told reporters in Geneva following a meeting of the UN agency’s International Health Regulations Emergency Committee.

In the WHO’s parlance, “a public health emergency of international concern” is an “extraordinary event” in which a disease may spread across borders and requires a vigorous international response.

Tedros stressed though that the decision not to use the label for the epidemic that has killed at least 139 people in DRC’s violence-torn North Kivu region since August “does not mean that WHO is not taking the outbreak seriously.”

– Over within the year? –

“We will not rest until the outbreak is finished,” he said, voicing hope that the robust response already in place could halt the spread of the virus “within this year”.

Robert Steffen, Chair of the Emergency Committee, also voiced “some optimism” that the outbreak would be brought under control within a “reasonable time”.

He told reporters though that the committee still has great concerns about the outbreak, and stressed that if the situation worsens the WHO could still decide to declare a global emergency.

The latest outbreak — the 10th in DR Congo since Ebola was first detected there in 1976 — emerged in the highly-restive northeastern region of North Kivu, which is home to a clutch of armed groups.

So far, 216 cases have been reported, including 181 that have been laboratory confirmed. A total of 139 people have died, meaning the fatality rate stands at 64 percent, WHO said.

The violence is complicating the response, and making it difficult to track contacts of those infected with the highly contagious virus.

The area, near the Ugandan border, is also densely populated and nine neighbouring countries have been advised that they are at high risk of spread.

Fears and misconceptions about the virus have led to widespread mistrust and resistance to Ebola response workers, including those who come into communities wearing hazmat suits to orchestrate burials.

“The emergency committee had a consensus that this outbreak certainly is not an outbreak of global importance, but they are very concerned for the region,” Steffen said.

The committee determined though that DRC authorities and the international community were already responding robustly to the outbreak, and that Uganda was well-prepared if the virus spreads across the border.

The use of an experimental vaccine is also promising, with more than 18,000 people having received the jab to date, WHO said.

“I think the vaccine is helping,” Tedros said.

(AFP)

RESIGN YOUR SENATE POSITIONS, AKPABIO TELLS SARAKI , OTHERS

Former Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has challenged other senators who have defected from one party to another to quit their leadership positions in the chamber.

Akpabio, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress, challenged other defectors to imitate him with his resignation as Minority Leader after leaving the opposition party.

He gave the challenge while answering questions from journalists after the plenary on Wednesday.

The resignation challenge, however, appeared to be in a veiled reference to the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who also defected from the APC to the PDP and is the only one left in the leadership of the Senate to have changed political parties.

Akpabio said, “I moved from PDP to APC, to make sure that this government works before the election. It should not be all about the election, it should be first about Nigeria. Let others also move in the national interest.

“I did not just move like that, I was a (Minority) Leader in the Senate. I resigned my position in order to show that, yes, I meant business. Let others who also have positions in the Senate who wish to also cross carpet from one political party to another also resign their positions and take a cue from what Godswill Akpabio did.”

The APC caucus, which had insisted on remaining the majority despite the defections, had asked Saraki to resign as Senate President or be impeached. The impeachment plot has however been suspended.

Akpabio stated that the sitting arrangement in the Senate chamber must be restructured to reflect the party configuration.

MINIMUM WAGE: ORGANISED LABOUR HOLDS CRUCIAL MEETING

NLC President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba

The Organised Labour says it will meet on Thursday to take a final decision on the new National Minimum Wage for workers, following the delay by the Federal Government to announce its figure.

Mr Ayuba Wabba, President, Nigeria Labour Congress, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja.

NAN reports that Senator Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, had said there was no agreement yet by the Tripartite Committee on the new National Minimum wage figure in the country.

NAN also reports that organised labour and the Tripartite Committee on the New National Minimum Wage had completed its assignment for onward submission to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Wabba said that the struggle for a new National Minimum Wage for workers was on course, saying that labour was proposing N30, 000 as requested by organised private sector.

“So, we as organised labour will be meeting tomorrow (Thursday) in Lagos after which we will brief newsmen on the outcome of our decision.

(NAN)

DON’T EMBARRASS ME OVER SITTING ARRANGEMENT, AKPABIO TELLS SARAKI

The Senate on Wednesday had a rowdy session as they argued about sitting arrangement.

The argument ensued when the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, refused to allow former Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, to contribute to a Point of Order raised by Senator Bassey Akpan.

Akpan had raised a point of order accusing the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom of plotting to cause chaos in the 2019 general election.

Saraki refused to acknowledge Akpabio’s contribution, saying he would not be allowed to speak unless he did so from his seat.

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He said, “Former Minority Leader, you know you cannot speak from there. Go to your seat, when you get to your seat, I will recognise you,” he said.

The Leader of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, was, however, not comfortable with Saraki’s position, and stood up to defend Akpabio.

He said, “As it stands today in this chamber, there is no organised sitting arrangement. If he decides to sit there, let him.

“There is no microphone there. Let us not take the Panadol for his headache. Let me advise that even though we have only six, seven months to go, let’s do what is right.”

In the course of his comment, the lawmakers began to talk at random, thereby throwing the chamber into a rowdy session.

The lawmakers refused to calm down in spite of Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu’s intervention.

The situation, however, became relatively calm when Akpabio stood up to explain that the seat was allocated to him by the Clerk of the Senate.

“The seat was allocated to me by the Clerk and I expect that you were notified. The embarrassment I got today was uncalled for.

“I demand an apology, not just written, but verbal too,” Akpabio said.

(NAN)