NECA lauds FG for labour bill approval, calls for prompt action

The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has appealed to the Ministry of Justice to, without delay, transmit the Labour Bills approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to the National Assembly.

Its Director-General, Mr Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, in a statement on Wednesday, also urged the National Assembly to facilitate the passage of the bills into law.

He said that since they were Executive Bills, the President’s assent should not pose any hurdle.

FEC had recently approved the amendment of the country’s labour laws to meet the standard of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, had said that the council, presided over by the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, granted its approval to the amendment.

Oyerinde said:‘’We commend the Federal Government for giving swift attention to the draft labour bills.

‘’We, indeed, congratulate the social partners, ILO and other stakeholders who worked tirelessly to produce the draft labour bills, even though we had hoped these bills would have long become laws by now.

‘’Nonetheless, it is exciting to know that the FEC has approved the draft Bills, which we expect will now be transmitted to the National Assembly for legislative action.’’

The NECA boss, said that the current Labour laws were no longer realistic, practical, and lacked the force to address emerging contemporary labour and industrial relations issues.

He said that labour laws in other climes continued to perpetually reflect international best practices while responding to the ever-changing world of work.

‘’The first attempt to review our labour laws was in 2001; this simply means that for about 23 years, nothing worthwhile was achieved, while the work-place continues to evolve.

‘’While new ILO Conventions were created and ratified by nations of the world, our labour laws remained obsolete.

‘’This led to many unnecessary industrial conflicts due to poor application of domestic and international labour standards.

‘’Nigeria had had to receive summons from the ILO committee of experts on the application of conventions and recommendations for various reported unfair labour practices.

‘’These are some of the inherent consequences of our obsolete labour laws, ‘’Oyerinde said.