As Nigerians marked May Day on Wednesday, the country’s leading labour unions – the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) – issued a scathing critique of President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, describing the plight of workers as the worst in the nation’s recent history.

The unions have renewed their demand for a review of the national minimum wage, currently set at ₦70,000, arguing that it no longer meets basic needs in the face of soaring inflation, new taxes, and increased tariffs.

Julius Laye, chairman of the TUC in Bayelsa State, said workers had been plunged into severe hardship following Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy on May 29, 2023, a move that triggered a wave of economic challenges.

“You know that the government introduced several taxes, and the hike in tariffs has impacted the workers negatively.

“The economic policies and the removal of subsidies have led to hyperinflation, so the minimum wage has become inadequate,” Laye said.

Labour Unions Slam Tinubu’s Economic Policies

He added that essential services, such as healthcare, have become unaffordable for most workers.

“Even the minimum wage is not enough to cover Medicare. Incidentally, they have money to fly out to seek better medical attention, but the Nigerian workers do not have the means to do so,” Laye said.

“We are worse off in this administration than we had ever been at any other time,” he concluded.

The unions stated that a new, realistic wage benchmark is necessary to restore dignity and ensure survival for Nigerian workers.

A woman who d!ed in a skydiving accident in County Durham has been named as 32-year-old Jade Damarell. The experienced skydiver, who had completed more than 400 jumps, fell to her de@th on Sunday, April 27, 2025, at Wrefords Farm in Shotton, County Durham. Company Sky-High Skydiving described her de@th as tragic, adding there were indications it was “a deliberate act taken to end her own life”.  A coroner is yet to rule on the circumstances surrounding her de@th. Sky-High Skydiving said: “It is with great sadness that we confirm a tragic incident took place involving a valued member of our community. “Our thoughts are with her family and friends as they face this unimaginable loss. “We urge anyone in crisis to speak to someone or reach out to a mental health professional.” Wrefords Farm said: “Tragically, last Sunday 27/4/25 a woman lost her life after a parachute incident/accident, please join us in saying a prayer for her and her family, we ask the Lord to accept her into the kingdom of heaven and strength to her family. “We ask for our own and farms privacy for this deeply upsetting matter to be respected. God bless.” One of her friends said the community in Shotton is “devastated and deeply traumatised”. They told Mail Online: “Everyone is devastated and deeply traumatised by what happened because she was very much part of the skydiving community. “She was mad for the sport. In just the two days before she died, she did 11 jumps. She must have done 80 this year.” Durham Constabulary said: “A woman sadly d!ed following a skydiving incident near Peterlee. Police officers and colleagues from the ambulance service were called to the incident in Shotton Colliery at around 10.30am on Sunday. “Sadly, a woman in her 30s was pronounced de@d at the scene. Her de@th is not being treated as suspicious and a file will now be prepared for the coroner.” The post Skydiver falls from plane and d!es in deliberate act to end her life appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has rejected claims that a former returning officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Peter Ogban, who was convicted for election rigging, worked for him.

Ogban, a Professor of Soil Science at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), was sentenced to three years in prison on March 25, 2021, for electoral offences during the 2019 polls in Akwa Ibom State.

The educationist was accused of manipulating results in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which featured Akpabio on its ticket for the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial election.

Displeased by the Akwa Ibom State High Court judgement, Ogban approached the Court of Appeal for a reprieve. Delivering judgment on the matter on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, the appellate court affirmed the lower court’s verdict, which found Ogban guilty of falsifying results to inflate.

ALSO READ: Appeal court upholds 3-year jail term for professor who falsified electoral results for Akpabio

However, the Senate President dismissed the report, alleging that Ogban had rigged the election to favour him, describing the claim as unfounded, spurious, and malicious, intended to tarnish his image.

“For the umpteenth time, just like I did when Senator Godswill Akpabio was the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, the claim that the jailed INEC Electoral Officer, Prof. Peter Ogban, was convicted for rigging election in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is unfounded, spurious, malicious and intended to tarnish the image of the President of the Senate,” a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Anietie Ekong read.

“I had then, in a statement as his Chief Press Secretary, stated this much while reacting to the claim by the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) that Ogban was working towards rigging the election in Akpabio’s favour.

“To put the record in perspective, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had reported that Ogban, a professor of Soil Science at the University of Calabar, was sentenced to three years imprisonment by an Akwa Ibom High Court for electoral fraud.

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“This was after he was found guilty of fraudulent manipulation of the election results of Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District held on Feb. 23, 2019.

“Akpabio, who was APC’s candidate at the election seeking re-election to the Senate, was rather a victim of the fraudulent manipulation of the election.

“In their desperation in a continuing campaign of calumny against Akpabio, they twisted the context of the judgment and maliciously claimed that the election was rigged in his favour. Nothing could be further from the truth; the facts of the case put a lie to this assertion.

“Contrarily, Akpabio was a victim of the fraudulent manipulation of the election of Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District held on Feb. 23, 2019. He is vindicated that the perpetrators of the electoral fraud are being brought to justice; at last, the chickens are coming home to roost.

“Akpabio did approach the National Assembly Election Tribunal to challenge the outcome of the election. In that election, Akpabio’s votes totaling about 61,329 scored at his home Local Government Area (LGA)– Essien Udim, having been collated, were not announced by Ogban in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

“Rather, Ogban who served as the Senatorial District Returning Officer joined the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Uyo, where the votes and scores of Akpabio were cancelled in various polling units and collation centers of various LGAs constituting Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District. This was including 61,329 votes of his home LGA.

READ ALSO: Akpabio faces renewed call to step aside amid sexual harassment allegation

“The National Assembly Election Tribunal and the Court of Appeal invalidated the election, and a rerun was ordered in Essien Udim LGA.

“Sentencing Ogban had vindicated Akpabio and the APC that the election was massively rigged. I wonder why Akpabio would challenge the outcome of the election up to the Court of Appeal, which upheld his appeal and ordered a rerun election, if he was a beneficiary of the election fraud.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Ogban never announced Akpabio as the winner of any election. Instead, he cancelled his lawful votes and announced his opponent as the winner of the manipulated election.

“It is the height of mischief for anyone to say that a man who arbitrarily cancelled lawfully collated votes of the APC and announced PDP winner of the election was working for Akpabio.

“It is obvious that some persons are being haunted by the ghost of the last election, which they massively manipulated to reach a predetermined conclusion, a position which was confirmed by the Court of Appeal in Calabar.

“In due time, we believe all the conspirators will be brought to justice as Ogban, either through the judiciary or divine intervention.

“Akpabio had since moved on to become the Senate President and would not be distracted by baseless and unfounded reports by hatchet men and mischief makers.”

READ ALSO: ‘Akpabio sexually harassed me, so I slapped him,’ says former NDDC boss Joy Nunieh