Kaduna: NLC ends strike

THE Nigeria Labour Congress has suspended its five days warning strike in Kaduna State.

  Announcing the suspension, the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba said the decision was to honour the invitation of the federal government on Thursday, to mediate in the dispute between labour and the Kaduna State Government.

  The Labour Minister, Chris Ngige, in a statement on Tuesday called on both parties to observe a ‘ceasefire.’

  Ngige said the federal government was concerned with the crisis in Kaduna State between workers and the state government.

  The two major labour coalitions, NLC and TUC, commenced a one-week total strike in Kaduna on Monday, leading to the shutdown of electricity, airports, schools and so on in the state.

  The workers are opposed to the plan of the state government to sack thousands of workers.

  Kaduna Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, however, says there is no going back on the ‘rightsizing,’ saying over 90 per cent of the state’s federal allocation is currently being spent on civil servants.

  The governor also declared the leaders of the NLC, led by Ayuba Wabba, as fugitives who should be arrested.

  “We hope and also pray the Kaduna State Governor not to escalate matters to such a level where it becomes uncontrollable. We also appeal to the leaders of the labour centres to step down action to make way for discussion,”  Ngige said in the Tuesday statement by his office.