The Federal Government has appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress to rescind its opposition to the registration of two new academic unions in the Nigerian public university system.

The new unions- the Congress for Nigerian University Academics and the Nigeria Association of Medical and Dental Academics -received letters of recognition recently during a ceremony at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in Abuja.

However, in a letter to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, the President of NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, demanded for the withdrawal of the letters issued to the unions, on the grounds that their registration contravened the laws guiding trade unionism.

In his reply, dated October 12, 2022, Ngige appealed to NLC to allow the new unions to exist in the spirit of Freedom of Association, as the Trade Dispute Act 2004 gives him the sole power to register new or regrouped trade unions.