…Why We Postponed Meeting Says FG
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The Minister for Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has again failed to be available for the meeting he scheduled with the leadership of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) and the Nigerian Bar Association, over the ongoing nationwide strike.
According to the information obtained by THENIGERIALAWYER(TNL), JUSUN, PASAN, had to walk out after waiting for over 2 hours for the meeting.
It was gathered that the Minister of Labour was in his office and kept the Union leaders in the conference room for more than 2 hours without any apology for the meeting that was supposed to start by 3pm.
Speaking with newsmen, JUSUN National Public Relations Officer, Comrade Koin Selepreye said it was wrong for the minister to keep the workers for that long when the invitation sent to them clearly stated that the meeting was for 3 pm.
She said the union would always avail her for meetings, but won’t take it when the fix for the meeting is not respected.
Also speaking, the National President of PASAN, Comrade Mohammed Usman berated the minister for what he described as unfair treatment melted on the workers.
He said the workers respect time and won’t accept been kept for a meeting which should be taken seriously considering the importance of the issues at stake.
Despite an effort by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr. Peter Yerima Yarfa, and the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Niger Affairs, Ita Enang to prevail on the unions to return for the meeting meet a bricks wall as they entered their cars and left.
At the meeting were the representative of NBA, inspector general of Police, NJIC, and head legal team of the Nigerian Governor Forum.
However, the Minister of labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has explained that the meeting with the combined unions of Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria( JUSUN) and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria( PASAN) has been postponed to enable the Federal Government negotiating team harmonize all issues from the Memorandum of Understanding reached at separate meetings with tiers and arms of government.
Addressing the press in his office, the Minister said this was necessary to ensure that the meeting with the unions come with a Memorandum of Action which is implementable with timelines.
“ There is no point rushing to do a meeting that will be fruitless. The Judiciary, the Governors Forum, and even the Presidency are involved in this negotiation because the meeting held yesterday was at the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
“The arising documents are not yet properly harmonized. It will therefore not be fruitful to hold a negotiation where people speak from irreconcilable positions. It won’t help us and it won’t help the unions either.
According to Ngige, “ the reason is to ensure that the agreement reached at the end of our meeting here is put into action, with timelines for implementation. So if we don’t have a paper that is ready to go, then there will be no point for the talk shop.
The Minister explained that the members of the unions were in a hurry even as they were properly informed of the little time needed for him to round off a meeting with the government team, comprising the Solicitor General of the Federation, Mr. Dayo Apata, the Director-General of the Governors Forum, Asishana Bayo Okauru and the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Senator Ita Enang.
He said the meeting will continue at a date to be announced soon. “ It is better done properly so that the Governors can implement whatever agreement we enter into. The governors hold the ace because they hold the sovereign in their respective states, even though they are sub-nationals but they run the government of those states.
He added that the Federal Government believed in autonomy but utmost patriotism and tact have to be exercised to sift the issues in contention.
“Today, fund management committees have been proposed and there is also executive Order 10. This means there is a problem and we must be very careful not to create more problems than what we are out to solve.”
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