By ERIC MOORE
THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Rivers State Chapter, has called for the reversal of the court judgement stopping the state allocation or face withdrawal of workers in the state.
State Chairman of NLC, Alex Agwanwo, said this shortly after an emergency meeting with labour leaders in the state in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
Agwanwo, while condemning the High Court verdict, which halted the release of federal allocation to Rivers State government, further said NLC will not allow its workers to face hardship following the judgement.
He appealed to the judges handling Rivers cases to consider the effect of such ruling on lives of workers and people living in the state.
Agwanwo said: “Yesterday (Wednesday), there was a court judgement from the Federal High Court, Abuja, which was delivered by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, that Rivers State allocation should be stopped from the CBN and other banks. That, the state government should not access it again.
“As a state council, we have also looked at issue and we totally condemn that judgement, in the sense that, the judgement lacked human face. The judgement lacked empathy. The judge did not put the citizens and workers in the state in consideration for giving that judgement.
“All of us know what taking away allocation of the state looks like. First of all, it will disrupt governance in the state. Governance cannot take place without funds. It will also affect workers in the local and state governments. Even, the private sector doing business with the state would be affected.
“For us at the state council, we will not sit down and watch this go further. So, we are appealing to the judges that, going forward, giving decisions on these matters in Rivers State, they should put in consideration the masses and people of Rivers State.
“As workers, we have the right to protect our welfare and interest. The government pays us (salaries). And you seize the allocation, that means that workers will not get their salaries both at the state and local government levels. What this means is that our dependants will suffer; businesses will crash.
“We begin to wonder the kind of political leaders in the state that took the matter to court. I wonder the kind of political leaders you are. We condemn this judgement.
“We are saying that whichever court that would take this matter again, whether at appeal or whichever, should reverse this decision. And if at any point this decision affects the welfare of our members, NLC in Rivers State will have no choice than to withdraw the services of our members.”
Meanwhile, the chairman of NLC has commended Governor Siminalayi Fubara for increasing workers’ minimum wage to N85,000.
He said:”We want to thank the Executive Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, for the approval of N85,000 minimum wage for Rivers State civil servants.
“This gesture is something that beats our imagination as workers in Rivers State, because it has never happened before. It has given a new face, a new hope to the workers of Rivers State. And we would not take this for granted.
“We appreciate His Excellency and we pray that God will keep him and protect him.”
He disclosed that on November 5, Rivers will host labour leaders across the country in Port Harcourt for the first time in the history of the union.
According to him, Rivers was chosen as host, by the national leadership of the union, having been adjudged the most worker-friendly state in the country and also having a worker-friendly governor.