Rivers TUC raises alarm over insecurity ahead of rerun

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

The Rivers State chapter of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has expressed concern over insecurity in the state, ahead of the rerun elections in the first quarter of 2016.

According to a statement by its Chairman, Chika Onuegbu, “the level of insecurity and kidnapping became so worrisome that workers started seeking for transfer out of Rivers State. The decision of the various Election Petitions Tribunals and the Courts of Appeal in Abuja, annulling most of the 2015 elections in Rivers State should be a lesson to all. The people must be allowed to make their choices in free and fair elections, and the elections must be credible.

“We advise the youths and the political parties to shun violence, as it diminishes our democratic culture and whittles down the remaining collective respect we have as a people and as a state.”

As the countdown to the rerun elections begins, TUC urged the security agencies to be alert at all times to ensure that adequate security is provided for all and sundry, irrespective of their positions in life, in order to guarantee safe environment for the rerun elections to take place peacefully.

Rivers TUC also stated that by now, it expected the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to have carried out a thorough and detailed review of the 2015 elections in the state.

It insisted that the electoral umpire had a responsibility to ensure that a level playing field would be guaranteed to all the participants in the electoral process.

TUC said: “The judgments of the Election Petitions Tribunals and the Appeal Courts in ordering rerun of most of the 2015 elections in Rivers State is an indictment on INEC. It indeed calls into question the capacity and integrity of the INEC in Rivers State to organise free, fair and credible elections.

“We call on INEC to use the opportunity of the court-ordered rerun elections in the first quarter of 2016 to demonstrate that it has the capacity and integrity to conduct free, fair and credible elections in Rivers State.

“INEC must come clean by prosecuting all those that organised or supervised the annulled elections in Rivers State, so as to serve as an effective deterrent.”

Rivers TUC also stated that an analysis of the recent macro and micro economic situation of Nigeria would leave a bitter taste in the mouth, stressing that every Nigerian worker had reason to be worried about its prognosis for 2016.

It reiterated that Nigeria had lost much of its revenue from crude oil, as a result of the accelerated decline in the global prices from over $120 per barrel in December 2013 to around $60 per barrel in December 2014 and about $32 per barrel in December 2015, with oil revenue already projected to fall by 50 per cent in the 2016 budget.

According to TUC,the implications of the fall in the prices of crude oil for the nation’s fiscal space and monetary health, would be dire, realising that oil receipts account for nearly 80 per cent of Nigeria’s national revenue and over 90 per cent of the nation’s foreign exchange receipts.

TUC said: “As we step into 2016, governments and employers at all levels are expectedly going to threaten the operational environment of Nigerian workers, exacerbating the already-oppressive work environment with serious decent work deficits, as terms and conditions of employment come under severe pressures across both public and private sectors of the economy.

“We urge Nigerian workers to be prepared for a robust and vigorous engagement of our social partners in 2016 to ensure that Nigerian workers and indeed all Nigerians are not negatively affected by the situation. We must all be prepared to engage the government for a new and an enhanced minimum wage package across board for all Nigerian workers, to cushion them from its negative impacts.”

The TUC in Rivers State urges the government at all levels and other employers to, instead of seeking to embark on reducing the workforce in their employment, cut down on some of the wasteful spending on political hangers-on and other executive perks, both in the public and private sectors. They should be courageous enough to eliminate corruption and inefficiency to the barest minimum.

“When these are implemented, public and private organisations become trimmer and more nimble, thus fitter to conduct its affairs profitably and efficiently and avoid the crisis that may be generated if they decide to embark on negative policies that will be deleterious to Nigerian workers.”

TUC in Rivers also declared that the huge gap between government spending and direct effect on the lives of the citizenry could only be explained by the horrendous systemic corruption that currently holds Nigeria in its thrall.