Oshiomhole Faces Backlash From NUPENG For Supposed Anti-Labour Comments

The recent remarks made by Senator Adams Oshiomhole on national television have angered the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), which has called them a heinous violation of established labor rules and a heinous attack on the fundamental rights of Nigerian workers.

The Nigerian oil and gas workers’ union, NUPENG, said that it has proclaimed Senator Adams Oshiomhole Persona Non Grata for his unwavering condemnation of the PENGASSAN strike against the unwarranted dismissal of 800 engineers for exercising their fundamental right to unionization.

The union stated that, in order to put this decision into practice, it will no longer support or endorse any event that involves Senator Oshiomhole.

The general secretary, Comrade Afolabi Olawale, and president of NUPENG, Comrade Williams Akporeha, jointly signed a statement accusing Oshiomhole of trying to justify the persecution of employees for exercising their basic rights to peaceful action and association.

“We see with great dismay how a former labor leader has changed into a strong supporter of corporate tyranny and is actively fighting for the very liberties he once defended.

Not only are his attempts to justify the retaliation against workers for exercising their fundamental rights to peaceful action and association disgusting, but they also blatantly violate Nigerian labor law and the conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

The first irony is that we are forced to consider whether it is accurate to say that former President Olusegun Obasanjo described Senator Oshiomhole as “a Comrade in the morning and a politician by night” at a dinner hosted by the Nigeria Labor Congress during one of its Delegates Conferences.

NUPENG stated, “If the description of Senator Oshiomhole by former President Obasanjo is accurate, we must inquire as to whether such a person is qualified to give a lecture on strategy and/or morality.”

The union went on to say: “How can someone who once counseled accused corrupt politicians to join the APC in order to have their sins pardoned have the audacity to preach about morality?

It also says a lot about Senator Oshiomhole’s character because he falsely claimed to have resigned from his position as General Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) after being elected President of the NLC.

According to the statement, “it is undeniable that Mr. Adams Oshiomhole served as NUTGWN’s NLC President and General Secretary from 1999 to 2007 and that he did not resign the General Secretary role until 2008, a full year after he left the NLC Presidency.”

According to NUPENG, the senator has a “pathological tendency to rewrite history to suit his current reactionary advocacy for the unconscionable capitalists who are not prepared to accommodate trade unions, opting instead for slave labor.”

We reiterate the unambiguous legal provisions for clarity’s sake:

In reference to the unionization problem, NUPENG stated that Section 40 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides the right to freedom of organization and assembly to all individuals in Nigeria, including foreigners.

Additionally, Section 9(6) of the Labour Act, Cap L1, LFN 2004 stated that contracts that attempt to bar employees from joining a trade union are expressly prohibited.

Furthermore, according to NUPENG, Nigeria has ratified both ILO Convention 87 (Freedom of Association) and Convention 98 (Right to Collective Bargaining), which both uphold employees’ freedom to organize and join any union they choose without hindrance for the purpose of engage in negotiations.

“By virtue of Section 254C (1) & (2) of the 1999 Constitution, these fundamental international standards have been made constitutional provisions, and the mass termination of workers for unionizing is a flagrant violation of them,” the statement stated.