THE Senate has said that it cannot accept a situation where Nigerians working in the telecommunications industry would be indiscriminately relieved of their positions without recourse to the global labour rules and practices.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Communications, Gilbert Nnaji, said this during a chat with newsmen and was confronted with a media report that MTN Nigeria Limited recently sacked over 500 workers
“As the representatives of the people, we cannot fold our arms and watch our constituents being oppressed by employers of labour. We cannot in any way tolerate such. At the same time, we shall ensure that our foreign investors are not unduly threatened.
“When my attention was drawn to this development, I immediately contacted the
managing director of the company. Although he said that facts were somehow misrepresented in the report, he still admitted that it was only the short-term contract staff who work in the call centres that were affected.
“I, then, let him know that it would be proper for him to review the action, especially in view of the current economic situation in the country. It is only when that option fails that the committee and, by extension, the senate would take a position to protect our people.”
However, MTN has since denied the report, and this is the second time in one week that the South African telecoms giant has made a public denial.
Recently, it denied an allegation that it had illegally repatriated 13.92 billion dollars from Nigeria, saying that the claim was without merit.
