May Day: APC, PDP differ on state of workers

 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday extended good wishes and greetings to all Nigerian workers, saying have remained positive.

 

National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi  in a statement sent to Frontline News Online, urged labour and trade unions in the country to continue ongoing dialogue with the government aimed at improving workers salaries and general welfare.

 

The statement read in part: “Unarguably, the Nigerian worker remain one of the most dedicated, resilient and hardworking in the world. They remain a key driver of the country’s multi-facet development.

 

“Despite challenges particularly on the economy, we celebrate Nigerian workers for staying positive and being a partner in nation-building as well as contributing towards efforts to take the country to its deserved heights”.

 

But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in its May Day statement differed with the ruling party on the role to be played by workers.
The party in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, called on workers to defend the ocuntry’s democracy and “resist the repression of Nigerians by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration.

“Nigerian workers must also not spare any energy in raising a strong voice against the violation of human rights and manifest insensitivity of the Buhari administration to the unabated mass killing of compatriots in Benue, Kaduna, Kogi, Nasarawa, Yobe, Borno, Plateau, Zamfara and other parts of our country by marauders and insurgents.

“Our labour force must also speak out against harsh anti-people policies and the corruption ravaging the Buhari administration, leading to the collapse of our once robust economy with loss of over 24 million jobs and attendant acute hardship, poverty and destitution in our country today.

“In the last three years, Nigerian workers, in all sectors, have been receiving the short end of the stick while the safety nets established by the PDP have all been eroded. Purchasing power of our workers has fallen to its lowest; the middle class has been eroded, while palliative institutions such as the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) set up to provide succor for workers have become cash cows for corrupt agents of the Presidency and the APC”, the statement read.