KICNEWS

Category: Politics

  • NLC kicks against calls for different minimum wage for states

    NLC kicks against calls for different minimum wage for states

    NLC kicks against calls for different minimum wage for states

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has opposed the call by some politicians for decentralizing minimum wage negotiations allowing states to have different minimum wages.

    In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Ibadan, the Secretary of NLC in Oyo State, Mr. Adebayo Aribatise, stated that decentralizing minimum wage negotiations would disadvantage workers in some states.

    Explaining the broader implications of a centralized minimum wage, Fayemi noted that only a small percentage of the population benefits directly from minimum wage negotiations.

    However, Aribatise strongly opposed decentralizing minimum wage negotiations, stating that it is not ideal for the country.

    He pointed out that some states have not yet fully implemented the old N30,000 minimum wage despite the efforts of the NLC at both the national and state levels.

    He said, “The fact remains that the law binds states to pay national minimum wage. It is expected that the federal government will continue to set the minimum wage. If not, some governors will continue to do as they like.”

    “Some governors will bastardise the agreement if we allow it and junior workers will continue to earn nothing worthwhile,”

    Backstory

    Former Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, had earlier emphasized the need for states to conduct wage negotiations with their labour unions independently from the Federal Government.

    Fayemi explained that the position of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, which he once chaired, was that states should be allowed to negotiate with their labour unions separately, as “fingers are not equal.”

    What you should know

    The negotiation for a new minimum wage has lingered on in the past months due to the difficulty of different stakeholders in reaching a consensus.

    While the federal government and the private sector have agreed on a new minimum wage of N62,000, organised labour led by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) are proposing N250,000.

    According to organised labour groups, a N62,000 minimum wage is not enough for the average worker in light of the significant increase in the cost of goods and services across the nation.

    The federal government had earlier stated that it cannot sustain the proposed minimum wage by organised labour which would amount to around N19 trillion yearly.

    On the other hand, the private sector led by NECA had also complained that it cannot meet the demands of labour unions now or any time soon stating the goal of the tripartite committee is to focus on job creation.

    The negotiation for a new minimum wage has been thorny leading to strike action that nearly crippled the economy with the shutting down of the national grid.

  • Atiku: Borno Attack: Don’t turn North-East to theater of terrorism — Atiku tells FG

    Atiku: Borno Attack: Don’t turn North-East to theater of terrorism — Atiku tells FG

    The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar has condemned the bomb attack in Borno State, warning the Federal Government not to turn the North East to the theater of terrorism.

    Atiku issued this warning in a post on his verified Facebook page on Sunday.

    The former vice-Presidentasked the present administration to live up to expectation, accusing the government of lacklustre posture in holding firmly to the frontline in the gains made by security operatives.

     

    According to him, it is a sad development that the “ugly incidents of terrorism are resurfacing and, indeed, metastasising in the North-East.”

     

    He said, “The reported attack by suicide bombers at a wedding reception, funeral procession, and a hospital on Saturday stands condemned.

     

    “It is unfortunate that much of the pushback that had been achieved against the Boko Haram terror sect are being cancelled, owing mainly to the government’s lacklustre posture to hold firmly on the frontline.

    “It is thus important to call on the federal authorities to wake up to their responsibility and to make sure that the North-East does not slide back into a theatre of terrorism and extreme violence.”

    Atiku also expressed condolences to the families of victims of these attacks, saying, “it is my prayer that God grants a peaceful repose to the souls of the departed.”

  • Don’t repeat Buhari’s mistake on appointments — Shehu Sani warns Tinubu

    Don’t repeat Buhari’s mistake on appointments — Shehu Sani warns Tinubu

    A former Kaduna lawmaker, Shehu Sani, has warned the President Bola Tinubu not to make the mistake of his immediate predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari on appointments.

    Sani issued this warning while speaking in interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

    The former lawmaker asked President Tinubu to prioritise competence in his appointments if he is interested in results.

     

    Sani said during Buhari’s eight-year administration between May 2015 and May 2023, nepotism was at its peak yet results were not produced in all areas of governance, majorly security, economy, education and healthcare.

     

    He said, “I will advise President Tinubu to be careful not to make the mistakes of President Buhari, and I believe he is experienced to understand this.

    “Under Presdient Buhari, you have ministers that were appointed into office for the whole of eight years; they were with him for the first tenure and the second tenure, and there was no cabinet reshuffle, no removal.

    “Even if there was a removal, it takes three to four months to replace a minister. That was the way the country was governed.

    “Under Buhari, we have seen nepotism at its peak where people were appointed into office and left there even if they did nothing.

     

    Under Buhari, we have seen nepotism at its peak where people were appointed into office and left there even if they did nothing.

     

    “Service chiefs were retained in office despite their failures, and by retaining them, you destroyed the careers of those behind them. For many years, many officers were retired to appoint one person

     

    .”If this country has to move forward, we must treat the issue of competency as the qualification for appointment,” he said.

  • FG, Ogun offer grants to over 17,000 MSMEs

    FG, Ogun offer grants to over 17,000 MSMEs

    FG, Ogun offer grants to over 17,000 MSMEs

    The Federal Government and the Ogun State Government have given grants to more than 17,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and traders in the state.

     

    According to a statement from the Ogun State Government on Sunday, Vice President Kashim Shettima announced this during the second Expanded National Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Business Clinic, which was held in the state recently.

     

    The Office of the Vice President in collaboration with the Ogun State Government organised the MSMEs clinic in Abeokuta.

     

    The Office of the Vice President in collaboration with the Ogun State Government organised the MSMEs clinic in Abeokuta.

    Speaking at the event, Shettima said that 200 entrepreneurs at the Modern Adire Shared Facility would each get a grant of N100,000 each and an exemption from paying rent for one year.

    He also added that each exhibitor at the Expanded National MSMEs Business Clinics would get N150,000 grant to further boost their businesses.

    The consolidated efforts serve as a facilitator which would lead to a robust environment for our MSMEs to grow. Ogun State has been impressive with its roles in improving the lots of MSMEs,” he said.

    In his address, The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, disclosed that the state government, given the present economic condition, would support small businesses with a N2bn conditional grant, through which 10,000 MSMEs would be empowered with N100,000 in grants each.

    He added that 2,000 SMEs would each get a N500,000 grant to aid their businesses.

    Abiodun added that as part of his administration’s first phase of intervention, the informal sector would also benefit as 5,000 market women, who would each get N50,000 to boost their trading activities and students would also benefit from the government cash grant.

    He revealed that the state in its drive to harness the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, would through its SME Industrial Land Administration Scheme establish a 1,000-hectare SME industrial park.

    The governor said that the park would be available to small business owners at lower market rates, with benefits such as Certificates of Occupancy and other incentives, including rebates on taxes and land use charges.

    In his response, the President of Organised Private Sector Network and  Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria, Dr Femi Egbesola, lauded the Federal and Ogun State Governments for the grants, describing it as timely help, which would ultimately enhance businesses and result in improved revenue generation for the government in the long run.

  • FG Not Planning To Run Four Budgets’ – Presidency Fires Peter ObiPublished

    FG Not Planning To Run Four Budgets’ – Presidency Fires Peter ObiPublished

     

    The Presidency has dismissed the claims of a non-profit organisation, BudgiT, that the administration of President Bola Tinubu, plans to run four budgets within a fiscal year.

    Naija News recalls that the Senate resumed plenary on Thursday to extend the capital section of the 2023 supplementary budget.

    In a statement on Friday, BudgIT’s Country Director, Gabriel Okeowo, said it was worrisome that the Federal Government could be drafting a 2024 supplementary budget to be implemented alongside the 2023 yearly budget, 2023 supplementary budget, and 2024 annual budget.

    Okeowo condemned the development, stating it would amount to severe budget credibility issues.

    In a statement via X on Saturday, Peter Obi described the move as a blatant disregard for fiscal responsibility, transparency, and accountability.

    According to the former Governor of Anambra state, the action of Tinubu’s government will lead to frivolous items in the approved budgets competing with essential projects for limited resources, further exacerbating the suffering of the Nigerian people.

    Reacting to the development, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, in a statement via X, said the Federal Government is not planning to run four budgets within a fiscal year, as alleged.

  • Just In: Zamfara Govt Rejects Tinubu’s Permanent Secretary Appointment

    Just In: Zamfara Govt Rejects Tinubu’s Permanent Secretary Appointment

    The Dauda Lawal-led Zamfara State Government has rejected the federal permanent secretary appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday night.

    Naija News reports that Tinubu had on June 28 approved the appointment of Maryam Ismaila Keshinro and seven others as permanent secretaries to fill existing and impending vacancies of some states and geo-political zones in the top administrative cadre of the Civil Service of the Federation.

    Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media, Ajuri Ngelale, disclose that the appointees were selected after a diligent selection process by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

    But the Zamfara State government rejected the appointment of Ismaila, claiming that she is not an indigene of the state and is also not qualified to hold the position.

    According to Premium Times, Zamfara’s Head of Service, Ahmad Liman, in an earlier letter in the selection process dated 24 May and addressed to the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, claimed that Mrs Ismaila is not an indigene of the state and cannot legally represent the people of the state, hence, must be dropped.

    The letter stated: “Consequent upon the commencement of the appointment process of the Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Civil Service, issues arose that stirred the collective attention of the good people of Zamfara State as the par representative capacity of candidates deployed in the process, most especially the potential candidate pencilled for the appointment on the post of a permanent secretary purported from Zamfara State.

     

    The moves not only failed to meet the requirements provided under the eligibility criteria enshrined in the Public Service Rules (as revised) but also the requisite for the said post offends the content of a recent Federal Government Circular No. MH.7205/T/31 dated 7th September 2023, on Tenure policy respecting clinical Officers/Personnel since the potential candidate that wrongly claimed representation of the good people of Zamfara State is clinical personnel.

     

     

    “It’s worthy of note to clarify from the onset, that the candidate infracted the key provision of Eligibility Criteria of the PSR, especially Rules 020811 (e) (f) which linked the requirements to indigeneship

     

    For all purposes and intendment, the candidate is never an indigene of Zamfara State and would not legally claim or enjoy representation for the sake of the good people of Zamfara State. Furthermore, no purported documentation in that respect will legally qualify her to be a bonafide indigene of Zamfara State.”

     

    “It’s against, this background, that I am therefore, directed to appeal to the collective conscience of the offices of the Head of the Federation and indeed all critical stakeholders to drop the candidacy of MARYAM IBRAHIM ALIYU or by whatever name called (Keshinro Maryam Ismaila) for the post of a Permanent Secretary in the Federal Civil Service in representation for the good people of Zamfara State to allow bonafide indigene of Zamfara extraction in the Federal Civil Service to legally and positively compete for the post.

     

     

  • Peter Obi: You should be ashamed of whats happening in Aba

    Peter Obi: You should be ashamed of whats happening in Aba

     

     

    The Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State, Abraham Amah, has condemned the Labour Party-led government, particularly its handling of public servants and infrastructure projects.

    Expressing deep concern over the situation, Amah said that the LP presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, should be ashamed.

     

    The PDP chieftain fumed over the government’s decision to relieve the permanent secretaries in the state of their duties without a public inquiry.

    Last year, a circular dated August 30, 2023, and signed on August 31 by the state Head of Service, Joy Maduka, read, “Following the ongoing reorganisation in the Abia State Public Service and in line with the provision of the Abia State Public Service Rules Nos. 02801 and 02803, I write to inform you that His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Abia State has directed the disengagement of all staff employed into the Abia State Public Service from January, 2023 to date.”

     

     

    However, speaking with Punch, Amah said, “I am profoundly ashamed of what is happening in Abia State. If Abia State is a miniature of the governance Peter Obi promises for Nigeria, then it spells total failure.”

    Amah also lamented the inadequate support for education, healthcare, energy, and security sectors, all of which he argued were critical for improving citizens’ welfare.

    He said, “This is a government that came on board and suspended all the permanent secretaries, suspended everybody. One year later, they sacked them, without any public inquiry or anything, without giving anything to the public.

     

     

    “So, what is the basis? Why do you think that tomorrow, those 15,000 workers who lost their jobs will want to vote for the Labour Party? Even Peter Obi should be ashamed of what is happening in Abia State.

     

    “It’s very embarrassing; I am very ashamed of what is happening in Abia State, because if Abia State is a sample of the kind of government people expect Peter Obi to bring in Nigeria, then they are a total failure.

    “So what is good about the government? This is a government that has already sacked about 15,000 workers, under the guise that they did not merit their jobs.

     

     

    “They have done nothing to create jobs; they do nothing to support and improve businesses and the standard of living of the people, to improve the education sector, health sector, energy, security, and care for the vulnerable.”

     

     

  • Incredible: United Nation Recovers Five Bombs Inside Iraq Mosque

    Incredible: United Nation Recovers Five Bombs Inside Iraq Mosque

    The United Nations (UN) has claimed that it discovered five bombs in a wall of Mosul’s Al-Nuri mosque, allegedly planted by the Islamic State (ISIS) group years ago.

     

    The UNESCO team, conducting restoration work in the northern Iraqi city, found these large-scale devices designed to cause significant destruction to the site.

     

    he agency’s representative informed AFP on Friday that the explosives were located in the southern wall of the prayer hall.

    Naija News understands that the Al-Nuri mosque and the leaning minaret Al-Hadba, both significant historical structures, were destroyed during the battle to liberate the city from IS.

    The Iraqi army has accused IS of planting explosives at the site and detonating them.

    UNESCO has been actively involved in the restoration of this site and other architectural heritage in Mosul, much of which was devastated during the 2017 battle for the city.

    “The Iraqi armed forces immediately secured the area, and the situation is now fully under control,” UNESCO noted.

    According to the report, one of the explosives was removed, but four others remain connected to each other and are expected to be cleared in the coming days.

    “These explosive devices were hidden inside a wall, which was specially rebuilt around them: it explains why they could not be discovered when the site was cleared by Iraqi forces in 2020,” the agency said.

    Iraqi General Tahseen al-Khafaji, representative of the Joint Operations Command of different Iraqi forces, verified the finding of “multiple explosive devices from ISIS jihadists in Al-Nuri mosque.”

    Reports had it that it was in the Al-Nuri mosque that Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the former leader of IS, declared the formation of the group’s “caliphate” in July 2014.

    The jihadists seized extensive areas of land in Iraq and the nearby Syria, which they governed with cruelty.

    In 2017, Iraqi forces, supported by a US-led coalition, expelled IS from Mosul.

     

     

  • Peace Initiatives Yielding Result In Niger Delta, Says APC Youths

    Peace Initiatives Yielding Result In Niger Delta, Says APC Youths

     

     

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Youth Network in South-South has said peacebuilding initiatives have created an enabling environment for investors to explore the Niger Delta vast potential.

     

    The group stated this while commending the administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dr. Dennis Brutu Otuaro, for his efforts in building peace and stabilising the Niger Delta region.

     

    In a communique after a stakeholders meeting in Warri, Delta State, the APC Youth Network’s South-South national coordinator, Comr. Theophilus Ebiama acknowledged Otuaro’s commitment to engaging stakeholders, addressing grievances, and promoting economic development.

    “Otuaro’s peacebuilding initiatives have been instrumental in reducing tensions and creating an enabling environment for investors to explore the region’s vast potential,” he said.

     

     

  • Explosion: ‘Don’t Transfer Suspect To Abuja’

    Explosion: ‘Don’t Transfer Suspect To Abuja’

     

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has called on the Nigerian Police to resist the pressure to transfer the prime suspect in last Tuesday’s explosion in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, to Abuja.

    The suspect, whose limb was severely damaged after he attempted to detonate an explosive near the President Hotel in the state capital, is currently receiving treatment at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, under the watchful eyes of operatives of the State Police Command.

     

    The suspect, whose limb was severely damaged after he attempted to detonate an explosive near the President Hotel in the state capital, is currently receiving treatment at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, under the watchful eyes of operatives of the State Police Command.

    Eze, in a statement made available to LEADERSHIP in Port Harcourt yesterday, expressed fears that investigations into the incident may be marred by undue interference as he has it on good authority that the Force Headquarters is under pressure to transfer the prime suspect in the explosion to Abuja.

    He therefore called on the Inspector General of Police to resist any pressure on him to scuttle investigation into the incident to unravel the masked-man of influence fueling armed conflict in the state to topple the administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

    The APC chieftain condemned attempts by former council chairmen and some lawmakers to turn the political playground in the state into an unsavory scene of carnage and bloodbath to justify their call for an emergency rule.