Presidency denies TUC’s human rights abuse claims, says Nigeria governed by law

BY ORIAKU IJELE

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President, Information and Strategy, on Tuesday accused the Trade Union Congress (TUC), United Kingdom, of making false claims about human rights abuses and violations in Nigeria.

He said, in a statement, that TUC leaders made the false claims at the opening session of TUC conference on Tuesday in London.

He said the Nigerian government was wrongly accused of rights abuse because the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, was stopped from travelling abroad after he snubbed the invitation of a law enforcement agency conducting an ongoing investigation.

“Ajaero, who probably considers himself above the law, was slated to speak at the same conference where the UK TUC leader attacked Nigeria.

“His actions, however, have serious consequences, as no one is above the law in Nigeria.

“Clearly, under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended), no person is above the summons of law enforcement agencies and lawful investigation,” said Onanuga.

According to him, like the United Kingdom and other civilised nations, Nigeria is a country of law governed by the constitution.

“We, therefore, reject any notion and allusion to human rights violations in Nigeria.

“The accusations made by the Trade Union Congress in the United Kingdom are, thus, unfounded and based on a misunderstanding of the situation,” he stated.

He said the Nigerian government was being led by a pro-democracy activist president who would do everything to protect civil liberties and the rights of all citizens.

He said there was no adversarial relationship between the Labour Movement in Nigeria and the government.

“While labour unions and the government may not always agree on policy direction, the government has consistently shown readiness to engage on any issue with labour despite the latter’s political partisanship.

“Contrary to the erroneous impression being created, the invitation extended by the Department of State Services to Mr Ajaero has nothing to do with his role as the President of NLC.

“As a responsible citizen of Nigeria, Mr Ajaero should honour any invitation from security agencies and resolve issues that may arise during the investigation instead of stirring adverse public opinion against the security agencies,” he said.

The presidential aide accused labour unions of stunting the economic growth and development of the country in the past, and even compromising the material well-being of the workers and the poor people they ought to protect.

He cited the opposition of the NLC and TUC to the sale of Port-Harcourt and Kaduna Refineries to Bluestar Consortium, promoted in 2007 by Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola, during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He said 17 years after the labour movement forced the successor government of Umar Yar’ Adua to cancel the sale of the two refineries, none of the four government-owned refineries worked.

“In the obverse, Mr Aliko Dangote, one of the promoters of Bluestar, has built the largest single-train refinery in the world.

“In a twist of fate, the same Labour Movement that fiercely opposed Dangote from taking over the two refineries in 2007 hailed him on completing his 650,000-bpd refinery in Lagos,” Onanuga noted.

He said the administration of President Tinubu would continue to promote the best economic interest of Nigerians despite the current challenges.

“It will also continue to pursue policies and programmes that will expand national economic output and create prosperity for our citizens,” he said.