The Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) has advised Nasir
el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, to negotiate with the Nigeria Labour Congress
(NLC) to resolve the strike in the state.
The governor and labour have been at loggerheads over the
decision of the Kaduna government to disengage 4,000 workers across the 23 LGAs
of the state.
The state government had cited a high wage bill among other
issues as the reason for the disengagement — a development that did not go down
well with the labour union.
As a result, the NLC resolved to ground activities in the
state with a five-day warning strike which commenced on Sunday. A protest
against the decision was also staged on Monday in Kaduna.
The showdown took another turn on Tuesday when el-Rufai
declared Ayuba Wabba, NLC president, and other members of the union wanted.
Speaking on the development, the forum noted that it is not
the “time for muscle-flexing”, considering the dwindling revenue of states.
Abubakar Bagudu, governor of Kebbi state and chairman of the
forum, appealed to the leadership of NLC to recognise the challenges facing the
country.
“The PGF has been following unfolding development between
NLC and Kaduna state government over the issue of rightsising local government
employees with deep concerns,” he said in a statement.
“Noting all the challenges facing all our states, especially
given dwindling revenue, we appeal to all patriotic Nigerians, including the
NLC, to demonstrate more commitment toward engaging governments at all levels
to address problems.
“This is not the time for muscle-flexing,” Bagudu said,
saying that Nigerians were already overstretched with many challenges.
“At this critical point of our democratic journey, there
could not be limits to engagement between all governments and citizens.
“We appeal to NLC
leadership to recognise that the burden of leadership is more about responding
to challenges based on the honest disposition of correcting past mistakes.
“As progressive governors, we share the vision of Kaduna
state government of reforming all our local government councils to make them
more efficient and consequently the pivot of critical development initiatives.
“At the same time, we want to appeal to the state government
under the leadership of our colleague, Malam Nasir El-Rufai to take all
necessary steps to ensure the resolution of all disagreements in the larger
interest of citizens in Kaduna.”
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