FG meets two demands of Nigerian workers amid threat to shut down economy

The Nigerian government has reportedly met two key demands of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) amid threats of a shutdown of the economy. The demands included the reversal of a 40 percent deduction from the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and the appointment of Opeyemi Agbaje as the chairman of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).

While PenCom has not officially confirmed Agbaje's appointment, the NSITF Managing Director, Oluwaseun Faleye, stated that the deduction would be made from either contributions or investment proceeds. The Federal Ministry of Finance had introduced a policy in December 2023 for automatic deductions of 50 percent from internally generated revenue of federal enterprises, which has now been reversed.

The NLC Secretary, Christopher Onyeka, confirmed the receipt of the government's response and stated that the executive council would review the correspondence before deciding on the proposed strike action.