NLC seeks Ogun Assembly's intervention in unpaid deductions

The Ogun State Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Akeem Ambali, has appealed to the state House of Assembly to intervene in and ensure that the state government remits the over eight months deductions for pension and cooperatives. He made this appeal when he paid a visit to the Assembly Speaker, Suraj Adekunbi, and other members of the legislative arm in Abeokuta on Wednesday. Ambali, who was accompanied by other members of the union, not only pleaded on the need to clear arrears of workers’ cooperative deductions but called on the Assembly to critical look into casualisation of workers and wrong termination of appointment in some companies in the state. he said, in an interview with our correspondent, “We told the lawmakers the need for government to fulfill its promise to the workers in the payment of the unpaid deductions from workers cooperative and bank loan deductions. “The government had earlier promised to pay all deductions to workers by the end of July but it did not fulfil its promise. “There is still that of contributory pension and others. The government needs to enter into negotiation with NLC on how to resolve all these. Ambali, who also called for strict compliance with local content policy by the companies in the state, said the companies must not only employ people from the communities they were located, but should also engaged in robust corporate social responsibility. The Speaker said the present administration was committed to promoting workers welfare and fulfilment of electoral promises to the people despite dwindling allocations from the federation account. Adekunbi pleaded with the NLC to be patient with government  on the process of fulfilling its obligations to the people, explaining that the issue of late remittance of workers’ cooperative deductions and other allowances was not peculiar to Ogun State alone but a national challenge.