LAGOS— The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has cautioned the National Assembly against selective amendment of labour laws outside the on-going arrangement which involves government, labour and private employers. A member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Ita Enang, also faulted the commencement of the debate on the Bill by the Senate as “procedurally wrong” since it was not gazetted.
The NLC, on its part, has threatened to challenge the Bill in court if it is passed. NLC president, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, who spoke at the National Assembly, advised lawmakers not to pass a law that would later be declared null and void, saying that those who passed the Electoral Bill were now regretting.
Making a presentation before the Senate Committee on Labour, the director of ILO for Nigeria and Ghana, Mr. Cornelius Dzakpasu, reminded the lawmakers that Nigeria was a signatory to Convention 144 on Tripartism which is about dialogue and consultation among the three social partners— government, labour and private employers— on issues of common interest to them.
He said the ILO had already offered technical assistance to the government of Nigeria on the review of labour laws.
Mr. Dzakpasu said the review of labour laws was a “global thing,” "the essence of which is to update the laws of the country by a tripartite arrangement, gives ownership to the laws that would emerge, ensures social justice and enhance productivity,” adding that the process “is a painfully slow one but very necessary.”
He said the committee would take a look at the laws and hand them over to the technical committee which would do the drafting, after which the laws will return to the committee. The committee, he explained, would give its approval after which the laws would be sent to the minister who is expected to pass it to the president. Mr. Dzakapsu said: “We cannot give a time frame within which this job would be completed."
He advised the National Assembly to set aside the controversial Labour Bill and allow the process of the review of Nigerian labour laws going on with the assistance of the ILO to run its course.
Faulting the Bill, Mr. Ita Enang who is also the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Rules and Business said the House had refused to list the Bill for even the first reading because it had not been gazetted.
While making his presentation at the Senate, NLC president, Mr Oshiomhole, wondered why the Senate had put the bill on its fast track. The bill was first sent to the Senate by President Obasanjo on June 8, 2004.
The chairman of the committee, Mr. Bassey Henshaw, said the executive might have presented this controversial Bill because the on-going process was too slow.
Appealing to the National Assembly to look beyond sentiments in considering the proposed amendments, Mr. Oshiomhole drew attention to the regrets of majority of the former members of the National Assembly who partook in the enactment of the subsisting Electoral Law.
