The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has faulted the proposed amendments to the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and Employees’ Compensation Act (ECA).
The President of NLC, Mr Joe Ajaero described the amendment, pending before the Senate, as “a brazen effort to capture and politicise workers’ funds”
Ajaero stated the NLC’s position at the 2025 Annual Conference of the Labour Correspondents’ Association of Nigeria (LACAN) held on Thursday in Abuja.
He said the NLC would resist any plan to divert contributions meant for injured workers and their families.
“This Fund is the lifeblood of workers’ solidarity; it was contributed by workers for their welfare and not as a political slush fund.
“We will resist this appropriation with every fibre of our being,” he said.
The NLC president urged the National Assembly to halt any move to weaken workers’ protection through anti-labour bills that undermine collective bargaining and decent work standards.
He also faulted the proposed Special Economic Zone laws that would allow some companies to operate outside national labour standards, describing them as a violation of ILO Conventions 87 and 98.
“These laws will create islands of impunity where workers have no voice and no rights,” he said.
Ajaero urged labour correspondents to expose such anti-worker policies and defend social justice through objective reporting.
“Comrades of the pen, your recorders and keyboards are as powerful as our placards. Together, we must counter misinformation and defend the dignity of the Nigerian worker,” he said.
Mr Olusoji Oluwole, the President, Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance, and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), also raised concern over the growing casualisation trend in the financial services sector.
Oluwole said over 60 per cent of the operational workforce in Nigerian banks currently consists of contract or outsourced staffers.
According to him, it is a practice that started in the early 2000s as a cost-saving measure.
“What began as a temporary measure has now become a permanent feature, with contract workers forming the majority of the workforce,” he said.
He noted that casual and contract workers often suffer from low pay, poor job security, and lack of access to benefits enjoyed by permanent staff members.
In the same vein, the Managing Director of NSITF, Mr Oluwaseun Faleye, represented by Mrs Bridget Ashang, said the Employees’ Compensation Act (ECA) was designed to protect workers, especially in high-risk sectors like oil and gas.
Ashang said the persistence of non-compliance and evasion of contributions by some operators, particularly in the upstream sector, showed dangerous disregard for the law and human life.
She identified outsourcing and casualisation as major challenges complicating enforcement, as they obscure employer liability and leave many injured workers without compensation.
Also speaking, the Director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Country Office for Nigeria, Dr Vanessa Phala, said poverty and inequality remain living realities for millions of Nigerians.
Phala said decent work remains the most effective route out of poverty, urging governments to prioritise job creation, skills development, and social protection.(NAN)