ILC114 - EU Statement - Committee on Application of Standards - Nigeria C.98
International Labour Conference
114th session
Geneva, 5 June 2026
Committee on Application of Standards
Nigeria
C98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949
Chair,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Republic of Moldova as well as the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.
The EU and its Member States are committed to the promotion, protection, respect and fulfilment of human rights, including labour rights. We promote universal ratification and effective implementation of fundamental ILO Conventions and support the ILO in developing and promoting international labour standards and supervising their application.
The European Commission has supported Nigeria’s social dialogue system via a technical assistance project under the ‘Global Deal’ implemented by the ILO and OECD in 2023-2024.
The EU and its Member States have been committed development partners of Nigeria, including through the Standard General Scheme of Preferences arrangement under the EU’s General GSP. The trade benefits granted under the Standard GSP arrangement are subject to the condition that Nigeria respects core international principles, enshrined in core UN and ILO Conventions, including Convention No. 98.
We welcome the copies provided by the Government of the National Industrial Relations Policy (NIRP) for Nigeria and the guideline on Labour Administration issues in Outsourcing/Casual/Fixed-Term Contract/ Contract Labour of Third Party Employees in the Hotels, Hospitality, Tourism and Catering Industry.
We also welcome the information regarding the number of collective agreements in force. Yet, we regret the absence of adequate dispute resolution mechanism, the interference in the collective bargaining process and the lack of adequate implementation of collective bargaining agreements.
We acknowledge the technical assistance - in the process to be provided - by the ILO Country Office in Abuja to convene two legal drafting retreats to further the labour law reform process. We hope these efforts will lead the speedy finalisation of the drafting of the Collective Labour Relations Bill, the Labour Standards Bill and other Bills for final tripartite validation and legislative action.
We request the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that the allegations referred to by the ITUC, denouncing anti-union discrimination, lead to specific investigations. We request information on the results of these investigations, and further request the Government to provide the report on the consultations with the social partners regarding massive dismissals for trying to join trade unions, which was not shared after the 113th International Labour Conference.
Regarding labour law reforms, we request the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure amendments are made to ensure the full recognition of the right to collective bargaining of all public sector workers not engaged in the administration of the State, including prison services, and the Central Bank of Nigeria. We also call on the government to amend section 19 of the Trade Disputes Act regarding the legal obligation to submit any collective agreements on wages for ministerial approval.
While recognising the importance of a comprehensive legal framework to protect trade unions rights, we also wish to recall that the existence of legal provisions prohibiting anti-union discrimination is not enough if they are not accompanied by an effective application in practice.
The EU and its Member States encourage further exchanges between the Government and the ILO with a view to implementing the recommendations of the Committee of Experts and to engage meaningfully with social partners.
Thank you, Chair.
- ^ North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.