The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has criticized state governors who spend most of their time in Abuja instead of focusing on governance in their states. He also stated that no governor has the authority to ban labour unions, as union activities fall under the exclusive legislative list in the Constitution.
Ajaero made these remarks on Monday during a town hall meeting with workers at the NLC Secretariat in Lokoja, Kogi State. His comments came in response to the decision of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, to ban labour unions in state-owned tertiary institutions.
Addressing the issue, Ajaero stated, “Let me say here, union practice falls under the exclusive legislative list in the Constitution. No governor has the power to ban them, you don’t ban what you don’t have control over. Unions are registered nationally by the Registrar of Trade Unions. For administrative convenience, they may choose to have branches in states, so what are you now banning?”
He noted that the state government does not have the legal authority to prohibit labour unions, adding that such a move was unconstitutional.
Beyond the issue of union bans, Ajaero also raised concerns over the absence of governors from their respective states, saying that many now reside permanently in Abuja while their states face serious challenges. He stressed that this trend is affecting governance and leaving workers without access to their leaders.
He said, “However, there is a problem we are having in trends because most governors are now living permanently in Abuja. We have moved to about five zones, Kogi is about the fifth zone. We have met governors in only one state. Each time you go there, they are in Abuja and this is affecting governance.”
Ajaero expressed concern that workers were struggling with economic hardships, including high living costs, and that the government’s consideration of increasing telecom tariffs would only make things worse.
He further noted that the NLC leadership was in Kogi State to hand over 10 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses to the state chapter of the congress to help ease transportation difficulties for workers.
Speaking on Kogi State’s significance to the NLC, Ajaero pointed out that both the state governor and deputy governor have backgrounds in union leadership. He said, “So, we want to make this as a town hall meeting to listen to you to know what has been done and what has not been done properly, so we take it to them.”
Earlier at the meeting, workers raised various concerns, including the long-standing ban on unions in Kogi State Polytechnic, Kogi State University, and other state-owned tertiary institutions for over 10 years.
They also mentioned other pressing issues such as the non-implementation of salary increments, lack of housing for workers, and a shortage of teachers in primary and junior secondary schools.
The NLC President assured them that the leadership would take their demands to the state government, provided the governor was available to meet with them. If not, they would deliver the message to his representative.
