NLC calls for workers’ protection amid political crisis in Rivers

The Rivers State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has emphasized that workers remain apolitical and should not be made to suffer the consequences of the ongoing political crisis in the state.

In a communiqué issued after its State Executive Council, SEC, meeting on Thursday in PortHarcourt, held following a valedictory session in honor of the late pioneer chairman of the Congress, Chief Peter Awoala, the NLC called for the immediate implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage at the local government level in the state.

The union also demanded the payment of both outstanding and current salaries owed to local government workers.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, NLC State Chairman, Alex Agwanwor, reaffirmed the Congress’s stance, aligning with the positions of the Organized Labour, the NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, in strongly opposing the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.

The union further urged the state government to sustain the early payment of public workers’ salaries and wages while advocating for a transparent and peaceful reconciliation process to resolve the ongoing political crisis in the state.

Agwanwor warned that if salaries and wages are not paid by the end of March 2025, “the Congress will explore all legal avenues to protect the welfare of its members, including the possibility of industrial action.”;

Local government workers in the state are yet to be paid their February salaries.

This followed the sack of all 23 LGA Chairmen by the Supreme Court on February 28, 2025, declaring that the October 5, 2024 LG elections that brought them in null and void.

Rivers State is currently being run by a Sole Administrator appointed by President Bola Tinubu, after declaring a six-month state of emergency in the state, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his Deputy, Ngozi Nma Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The decision of the president has come under scrutiny by political big wigs, the Organized Labour, civil society organizations, the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, and a greater population of Rivers people.