Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State has vowed that the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, and other labour leaders will steer clear of the state when he is done with them.
The governor gave the threat while addressing the 23rd Annual Tax Conference organised by The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) on Wednesday in Kaduna.
The strike over the mass sack of workers in the state entered the third day on Wednesday.
But according to el-Rufai, the actions of the organised labour which prevented businesses like banks, petrol stations and others from opening is criminal, illegal and the government will deal with “the criminals”.
El-Rufai said those responsible for shutting down businesses were liable to be convicted on the Miscellaneous Offences Act, which attracts a minimum penalty of 21 years imprisonment.
He, however, apologised for any inconvenience suffered due to the strike, saying, “All those that have broken the law to the fullest extent will never come back to the state again by the time we are done with them.”
He said further, “There are efforts to prevent legitimate business to open, there are efforts to prevent banks from opening and also preventing petrol stations from dispensing fuel, this is criminal and illegal and we are going to take action.
“We are making efforts to provide security for all businesses that will wish to remain open.
“We are not against the right to strike, you are free to strike, but walk away from your institution and allow it to function without you.
“You have no right to stop any business from remaining open and we are going to take very strict measures against people that have tried to do that.
“What this strike is about is to answer fundamental questions, the first of which is this; should an employer, keep person of poor education, inadequate skills, qualifications and bad work attitude in employment, whether he likes it or not? Our answer in Kaduna state is negative.
“We, as the employer, are in a contract of employment with the employee and if he is not up to scratch, we will let him go and that is included in our contract of service.
“The second question is this, is the right to protest or to withdraw your services of an employee equivalent to the right to destroy the institution in which you work; shut it down or attack public infrastructure?
“Our position is very clear, law is very clear, you can walk out, you can strike, but you cannot shut anything down.
“Public infrastructure is a public asset belonging to the federation which belongs to all the people in Nigeria and you have no right to shut it down and if you do, you are liable to be convicted on either the Miscellaneous Offences Act which attracts a minimum penalty of 21 years imprisonment.”
According to him, “I want to assure you that we will break the strike and deal with the criminals, prosecute all those that have broken the law to the fullest extent and I assure you that they will never come back to the state again by the time we are done with them.”
