Nigeria Labour Congress has accused the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, of allegedly trying to scuttle the implementation of the recent agreement it had with the Federal Government.

The labour movement said the minister was taking sides in the crisis rocking the National Union of Road Transport Workers.

It warned that Nigerians would hold the minister responsible if the situation results in a national industrial crisis.

In a statement signed by the NLC General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, it said that the government was giving support to the illegal faction of the NURTW and encouraging them to conduct their own delegates conference, both zonally and nationally, to confer legitimacy to their action.

The NLC added that it was unthinkable that a Federal Minister of Labour, “tasked with safeguarding the rights and interests of diverse stakeholders in our industrial relations landscape, would opt to take actions that could undermine the very foundations of our collective engagement.”

“The minister’s decision, which is clearly morally reprehensible and legally untenable, marks a disheartening departure from the expected standards of conduct within the nation’s industrial relations sphere.

In addition, the NLC said it was clear that the Federal Government never negotiated in good faith and, consequently, was never genuinely committed to honouring the terms of the October 2, 2023 agreement.

It further alleged that the NURTW leadership crisis was engineered by the Federal Government through the police, who, according to it, aided members of the Lagos Lands, Parks and Garages Commission in Lagos State, not the NURTW, to forcefully occupy the union’s headquarters in Abuja.

The NLC insisted that Baruwa’s leadership was democratically elected in strict adherence to union statutes, the national laws, and the International Labour Organisation’s conventions.