BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has cautioned against the removal of Labour issues from the Exclusive Legislative list to the Concurrent list in the Constitution, warning that such moves by those who want to further impoverish Nigerian workers would be resisted.
This was as it specifically called for reforms to close the leadership recruitment gaps that have bred mediocrity and state capture.
The NLC stressed that Labour issues must remain in the Exclusive Legislative list to avert negative implications for workers and the economy, and therefore called on all Nigerian workers to begin mobilization across the country to picket the offices of any National Assembly member found to be supporting the removal of labour issues from the Exclusive Legislative to the Concurrent list.
It noted the ongoing regional Public Hearings on the Review of the 1999 Constitution and underscored that the process must not be reduced to a ritualistic exercise, stressing that instead, it must serve as an historic opportunity to address the structural imbalances that entrench inequities, perpetuate underdevelopment, and stifle the productive forces of the federation.
The umbrella organization for Nigerian workers, also noted that the contradictions of Nigeria’s political economy have deepened the precarity of working people and further exposed the fragility of the social contract; at a point when Nigerians are feeling deeply abandoned.
These were contained in a communique after the meeting of the Central Working Committee of the NLC that held on July 4, 2025, in which it advocated for what it described as “genuine fiscal federalism” that empowers sub-national governments to drive economic development,
The communique which was signed by Joe Ajaero and Emmanuel Ugboaja, President and General Secretary of the NLC respectively, expressed grave concern over the escalating economic hardship which has pushed and kept millions of Nigerians in multidimensional poverty.
The NLC noted that workers and their families continue to bear the brunt of unrelenting inflation, surging food prices, prohibitive transport costs, and the erosion of real wages.
The Labour force also demanded institutional strengthening of Nigeria’s electoral system to ensure that electoral outcomes are truly reflective of the sovereign will of the people rather than products of rigging, vote-buying, and other malpractices that have delegitimized democratic governance.
The NLC’s CWC unequivocally condemned the alarming and continuous deterioration of security across the country, adding that the spate of mindless killings in the Middle Belt, the North East, the North West, and the general climate of violence and criminality are stark indictments of state failure to protect life and property.
The NLC further said; “The nearly 700,000 lives lost in just a year according to reports to insecurity in Nigeria can only happen in nations at war. When farmers can no longer access their lands to farm, famine becomes a looming danger. The present high prices of food in the country can only be attributed to insecurity.
“The Meeting therefore demanded that the Federal Government and security agencies take decisive, coordinated action to stem the tide of insecurity and restore public confidence in the capacity of the Nigerian State to secure its citizens. Time for talk shops and promises have gone and what is needed now are actions,” it said.
The Congress further reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to the defence of democracy, economic justice, and social progress.
