The Trade Union Congress (TUC) alleges that the Federal Government ceased paying the ₦35,000 wage award after the initial month, despite possessing the necessary revenue.
Festus Osifo, the President of the Trade Union Congress, asserted this claim in an interview with Arise Television on Monday.
According to the TUC, the government reneged on the promised 6-month wage award payment after the initial disbursement.
Meanwhile, the union has presented a 10-point agenda to President Bola Tinubu as part of its demands to the federal government.
Osifo stated that the Nigerian government possesses the requisite revenues to meet the union’s demands but lacks the will to “actually do what is right.”
He remarked, “If you’ve signed an agreement and you’re finding it difficult to implement, what you do normally is for you to call the other party, and you sit down together. But we don’t even think that is the challenge, we don’t think that is the problem.
“Because today, you could see from the federation account how much they share every month, it has doubled compared to the figures that they were sharing or the amount of money that they were sharing as at April/May.
“Today, they share trillions of naira, that shows that even if the value of this money has plummeted, even if the value has gone down, but the physical note is there, the volume has actually gone up.
“So, they could actually take care of this. It is not because they don’t have revenue, but it is the will for them to actually do what is right. You know very well, that as at when this government came in, the exchange rate was somewhere around ₦450 to a dollar. But today, officially, it is over ₦900, which is times two. That has actually made the government earn more money.”
Osifo noted that the government had not notarized the 10-point agenda that the TUC had presented to the government, which was eventually agreed upon.
He said, “The last point in that agreement that we reached as at then contained the fact that it will be a consent judgment, but up till now, to the best information available to us, that has not been done. As of today, it’s not been placed before the court of law for it to be adopted as a consent judgment.
He further stated, “It is left for the government to tell us the reason why they have not taken that document to court; it’s left for them. But for us, our responsibility is to hold them accountable to be sure and certain that every statement in that agreement as agreed with them must be implemented.”
Osifo then emphasized that the demands listed in the 10-point agenda came about as they considered the suffering of the average Nigerian due to high rising prices, inflation, the removal of fuel subsidy, and other economic challenges.
He asserted, “It was based on this that the government came up with this 10-point agenda because we feel that if the government is sincere enough to implement these and put frameworks in place to address all these, the life of an average Nigerian will be better.”
“This government must sit down, buckle its belt, and address the issues that are affecting Nigerians,” he said.
