NUPENG Slams Former APC Leader Oshiomhole Over Labour Controversy

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has expressed shock at Senator Adams Oshiomhole’s recent remarks on national television, calling them a heinous violation of established labor rules and a heinous attack on the fundamental rights of Nigerian workers.

The NUPENG leadership announced that it has designated Senator Adams Oshiomhole Persona Non Grata among Nigerian oil and gas workers for his unwavering condemnation of the PENGASSAN strike opposing the arbitrary dismissal of 800 engineers for exercising their fundamental right to form a union.

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

NUPENG President Comrade Williams Akporeha and General Secretary Comrade Afolabi Olawale 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 watch with dismay as a former labor leader is now a strong supporter of corporate tyranny and actively campaigns against the very rights he once defended.

His attempts to justify the retaliation against workers for expressing their basic rights to peaceful action and association are not only disgusting, but they also blatantly violate the International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions and Nigerian labor law.

At a dinner hosted by the Nigeria Labor Congress during one of its Delegates Conference, former President Olusegun Obasanjo allegedly described Senator Oshiomhole as “a Comrade in the morning and a politician by night.” This is the height of irony, and it forces us to consider whether it is accurate.

“We must question whether someone who fits the description of Senator Oshiomhole given by former President Obasanjo is qualified to give moral and/or strategic lectures to anyone,” NUPENG stated.

“How can someone who once suggested that corrupt politicians join the APC in order to have their sins forgiven have the audacity to preach about morality?” the union continued.

Additionally, Senator Oshiomhole’s false claim that he resigned his post as General Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) after becoming President of the NLC is a testament to his character.

It was stated that “there is no question that Mr. Adams Oshiomhole served as NUTGWN’s NLC President and General Secretary from 1999 to 2007 and that he did not resign as General Secretary until 2008, a full year after he left the NLC Presidency.”

“Seems to be a pathological tendency on the part of the Senator to rewrite history to suit his current reactionary advocacy for the unconscionable capitalists who are not prepared to accommodate trade unions, in preference for slave labor,” reported NUPENG.

To ensure clarity, we restate the law’s unambiguous provisions:

NUPENG cited Section 40 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Constitution (as amended) as guaranteeing the right to freedom of association and assembly for all individuals in Nigeria, including foreigners.

Furthermore, Section 9(6) of the Labour Act, Cap L1, LFN 2004 stated that any contract that aims to ban a worker from joining a trade union is specifically prohibited.

Furthermore, NUPENG stated that 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 bargaining.

It stated that “the mass termination of employees for organizing a union is a flagrant breach of these fundamental international norms, which have been made constitutional provisions by virtue of Section 254C (1) & (2) of the 1999 Constitution.”