The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Joe Ajaero, has lamented that most governors are now living permanently in Abuja to the detriment of their states.

Ajaero spoke at a town hall meeting on Monday in reaction to the proscription of labour unions in state-owned tertiary institutions by former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello

He said, “There is a problem we are having in trends because most governors are now living permanently in Abuja. We have moved to about five zones, Kogi is about the fifth zone. We have met governors in only one state. Each time you go there, they are in Abuja and this is affecting governance.

“I think we should be able to manage the centre and the units, so people will have the feeling of democracy, the dividend of democracy so that people can talk to their leaders.

“So, if we capture all these things, the information you are going to give us will be conditional if the governor is around. If he’s around, we will convey your information to him. If he’s not around, whosoever he’s going to send, we pass it to him.”

Condemning Bello's actions against labour unions, the NLC President said no governor has the powers to ban labour unions.

He said, “Let me say here, union practice falls under the exclusive legislative list in the Constitution. No governor has the power to ban them, you don’t ban what you don’t have control over.

“Unions are registered nationally by the Registrar of Trade Unions. For administrative convenience, they may choose to have branches in states, so what are you now banning?”