El-Rufai briefs Buhari on Kaduna labour crisis, insists on right-sizing

29 Jun El-Rufai briefs Buhari on Kaduna labour crisis, insists on right-sizing

Governor Nasir El-Rufai says he has provided a comprehensive briefing to President Muhammadu Buhari on the rightsizing policy of the Kaduna State Government and the steps taken so far to implement it.

The governor said his administration would seek accountability for the Nigerian Labour Congress’ actions in the state by setting up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the events of May 2021.

He explained that the government is hiring over 10,000 staff because rightsizing obliges the government to continuous recruitment of teachers, doctors, nurses and other qualified staff to provide vital services.

A statement issued by Special Adviser on Media and Communication to the Kaduna Government, Muyiwa Adekeye, on Sunday, quoted Governor El-Rufai as having assured President Buhari that “KDSG is determined not to allow a repeat of the pains, economic losses and the restraints of freedom that the NLC inflicted on the people of Kaduna State.”

Alluding to the NLC’s renewed threat of strike action, the statement accused the NLC of demonstrating a lack of belief in equality among its own members by describing the transfer of one Kaduna employee to a place where other civil servants are serving as victimisation.

Adekeye said the Kaduna government has jettisoned the MOU reached with labour in a meeting facilitated by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige.

He said the state’s representatives at the May 20 conciliation meeting had indicated clearly that whatever they signed required the approval of the Kaduna State Executive Council.

Adekeye said the Kaduna State Government “has since informed the federal Minister of Labour that the State Executive Council is unable to approve the MoU.”

“It is trite that an MoU is not a legally binding document. The content of the MoU shows that there is no congruence between the progressive aspirations of the Kaduna State Government and the misguided sense of entitlement of the NLC which does not even believe in equality amongst its own members.