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Again, Nigeria’s labour unions suspend strike

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Nigeria’s organized labour, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), has once again suspended the indefinite nationwide strike that was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, October 3rd, by 30 days.

The leadership of the two unions, which announced the suspension of the strike at the end of a marathon meeting with representatives the Federal Government in Abuja on Monday night, said the decision to suspend the indefinite strike, which was aimed at protesting the hardship of Nigerians as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government, was due to some agreements reached with the government.

The unions had held a meeting with government on Sunday night and promised to present a fresh list of offers from the federal government to their various organs before taking a final position on the strike.

The Sunday meeting had seen the government resolve to waive the Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel for six months, as well as fast-track the introduction of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses to address the cost of transportation arising from the removal of fuel subsidy, among other measures.

At the Monday night meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, as well as the TUC President, Festus Osifo, and Secretary General, Nuhu Toro.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Dr. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, and Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, appended the document on behalf of the federal government.

Announcing the outcome of the meeting, Lalong said:

“The NLC and TUC accept to suspend for 30 days the planned Indefinite Nationwide strike scheduled to begin, Tuesday, the 3rd of October, 2023.”

According to the terms of the agreement, the government agreed to grant a wage award of N35,000 only to all federal government workers beginning from the month of September, pending when a new national minimum wage is signed into law.

Parts of the agreement read:

“The NLC and TUC accept to suspend for 30 days the planned Indefinite Nationwide strike scheduled to begin, Tuesday, the 3rd of October, 2023.

“The Federal Government grants a wage award of N35,000 (thirty-five thousand Naira) only to all Federal Government workers beginning from the month of September pending when a new national minimum wage is expected to have been signed into law.

“A minimum wage committee shall be inaugurated within one month from the date of this agreement.

“Federal Government accepts to vote N100 billion for the provision of high capacity CNG buses for mass transit in Nigeria. Provisions are also being made for initial 55,000 CNG conversion kits to kick start an auto gas conversion programme, whilst work is ongoing on state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide.

“The rollout aims to commence by November with pilots across 10 campuses nationwide.

“The Federal Government should urge state governments through the National Economic Council and Governors Forum to implement wage award for their workers.

“Similar consideration should also be given to local government and private sector workers.  A joint visitation will be made to the refineries to ascertain their rehabilitation status.”

Metro

Zambia: President Hichilema sacks three Constitutional Court judges

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Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema, has finally sacked three Constitutional Court judges whom he had earlier placed on suspension.

The affected judges, whose sacks are with immediate effect according to a statement by State House Chief Communications Specialist, Clayson Hamasaka, are Anne Sitali, Mungeni Mulenga, and Palan Mulonda.

Hamasaka, who announced the decision in a statement on Sunday evening, stated that the President acted on a recommendation from the Judicial Complaints Commission (JCC).

“The removal of the judges is in exercise of the powers vested in the President under Article 143 (b) and (c) of the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia,” said Hamasaka.

Before their dismissal, the three judges had been suspended by President Hichilema who had then sought a judicial review from the Lusaka High Court, arguing that their suspension violated the principle of res judicata, meaning the case had already been settled.

The judges had also contended that the complaint, initially filed by Moses Kalonde, stemmed from the 2016 presidential election petition between Hichilema and former President Edgar Lungu, which was concluded in 2017.

They had sought to quash the JCC’s decision to reopen the matter, asserting that earlier complaints, resolved by Emmanuel Mtonga, Alfred Chims Mbewe, and Douglas Syakalima, had settled it.

The judges also requested a stay of the JCC proceedings, scheduled for 30 September, and the suspension itself, pending the High Court’s decision.

The judges had also called for an expedited hearing, with costs to be borne by the Attorney General, represented by Messrs Sam Chisulo and Company.

However, the court quickly dismissed their case, ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter.

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Nigeria confirms supplying 24-hr power to Togo, Benin, Niger

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Despite its inability to provide steady electricity for Nigerians amid regular collapse of the national grid, Nigeria’s electricity regulatory body, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), says Nigeria supplies 24-hour electricity to neighbouring Togo, Benin and Niger.

The Managing Director and CEO of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, who disclosed this in an interview programme on Sunday night, confessed that the three neighbouring countries enjoyed regular power supplied by Nigeria.

“We supply Togo, Benin, and Niger. They get power from Nigeria on a 24-hour basis, and they are paying for it,” Abdulaziz stated during the programme.

When he was asked why many Nigerians do not enjoy uninterrupted power like the residents of the countries, the TCN CEO said there are some Nigerians who enjoy 24-hour electricity.

“Nigerians are getting 24-hour supply, but it’s not everyone. Those in Band A receive 20-22 hours of power supply.”

Abdulaziz however, expressed optimism about achieving a consistent electricity supply across Nigeria within five years.

“I am telling you we can get consistent power supply in less than five years. The new minister is looking at the problems, he is not doing cosmetic showdowns.

“If there is a system collapse, it doesn’t mean all the problems are from TCN, it can be from generation, it can be from transmission it can be from distribution. Some of these can also come from disaster. You cannot say it is the fault of the TCN just like that. TCN are in charge of managing the grid.

“People have to understand the difference between the TCN and Nepa. When we were Nepa, we were the ones doing the generation, transmission, distribution and marketing.

“But now we are only doing one leg which is transmission. But there could be issues in all other sectors which are the generation and the distribution. But people only know Nepa and they think TCN is NEPA and they put the blame on TCN.

“Most of the equipment we use is over 50 years old. Electricity is now expensive in Nigeria, we feel it is expensive because we are getting it at a cheaper price. If you go to other African countries, go to Burkina Faso, Senegal, Niger; Nigeria is cheaper,” he stated.

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