Oshiomhole Meets Shettima In Aso Rock, Speaks On Labour Strike

The lawmaker representing Edo North Senatorial District, Adams Oshiomhole, on Tuesday met with the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, in Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

Naija News understands that Oshiomhole held a closed-door meeting with Shettima.

Oshiomhole, while addressing State House Correspondents after the meeting, said the striking Labour Unions are not prioritizing the interests of Nigerian workers.

The lawmaker’s statement comes amidst the nationwide strike instituted by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

He said, “I will publicly support action against any government that thinks that we should lament away our hunger…unfortunately, this strike is not about those issues…we have to be careful not to mix our political opinion with our responsibilities because the issues confronting workers are so many that they should become the priority.

“The federal government had granted N35,000 Wage Award. And those discussions were supposed to be for and on behalf of not only the federal government but of all workers in Nigeria, including those employed by local governments and state governments.

“Now, I would have wished that somebody in the NLC recognised that the hunger in the stomach of federal employees is not any worse than that of state or local government employees.

“If these are the issues on the table, even as a senator, I will publicly support action against any government that thinks that we should lament away our hunger…You have to be careful not to be seen as doing the bidding of a particular candidate or a political party.”

Oshiomhole, who spoke against violence against any individual, called on Labour to mobilise its members in all 36 states to ensure that the FG fulfils its promises to ease the living conditions of Nigerians.

He advised, “Let me be clear. I do not support the brutalisation of any Nigerian…including the Labour Leader.

“But I’m saying, in terms of what you might call the hierarchy of needs and challenges that we face, I think that NLC should robustly engage all the state governors or governments who are not implementing the agreement that was midwife, courtesy of a national strike, not a federal government’s employees strike.

“So if you mobilise private sector workers, state employees, local government workers, and now there is an agreement on N35,000 across the board, I want to see NLC saying there will be no sleep in any state where this is not being implemented.”

Oshiomhole appeared at the State House in the company of two former members of the National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress, a former National Vice Chairman (North Central), Ahmed Wambai, and National Treasurer, Adamu Fanda.

Speaking on why he was at the Villa, the former governor of Edo State said he visited the villa to congratulate President Bola Tinubu, who is away in Saudi Arabia, through the VP over the APC’s success in the Imo and Kogi elections on November 11.

He said, “So first, we have to congratulate him, and since the President is not here, through him to the president, for the victory we recorded in the elections in Imo and Kogi.

“What has happened in Imo shows that urban elites cannot arrest this democracy. This forgotten majority of voiceless people…have the power of the ballot.

“That it is not what sponsored commentators say on television or sponsored writers write in papers that will inform their judgment. Their judgments will be formed by what they have seen the governor doing and what the governor is doing that touches them.

“The worst mistake you can make is to rely on sampling people in Abuja whom we call ward 17. They don’t exist in the States, but they are very vocal. They are the ones you will find being hosted by TV hosts. But those voiceless people are potent. They are the ones that vote.”