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Rivers women have thrown their weight behind the Rainbow Coalition congratulating its unveiled candidates and expressing optimism that the ongoing political reconciliation in the state will promote unity and peaceful conduct ahead of the general election.

The women under the Rivers Women Unite Organisation and the Central Planning Committee of the Women Converge commended Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike for their roles in fostering peace among political leaders.

The committee which made the remarks during its monthly prayer session in Port Harcourt at the weekend announced that the 2026 Women Converge would hold on November 26 in the Garden City.

The group expressed solidarity with Fubara saying it had consistently supported his decisions and welcomed initiatives aimed at restoring unity within the political family.

The women in a statement by the Communications Officer of RWUS and RWUOG Glory Sunday expressed confidence that the reconciliation would strengthen togetherness reduce political tension and promote the peace and development of the state.

The committee said this year’s Women Converge would bring together women from different backgrounds religious leaders and other participants for prayers praise thanksgiving reflection and fellowship.

According to the committee the gathering will provide an opportunity to pray for the peace growth and development of Rivers State Nigeria and families across the country.

It urged women and other interested participants from within and outside Rivers State to attend expressing confidence that the event would strengthen faith unity and collective commitment to a peaceful and prosperous society.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Adamawa State has reaffirmed the fundamental right of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) to participate in the 2027 general elections like other eligible Nigerian citizens.

The electoral umpire also reiterated its deliberate measures to eliminate barriers hindering the participation of persons with disabilities in the country’s electoral process.

The Head of Voter Education and Publicity Department of the Commission in the state Aliyu Hassan Sha’aba disclosed this on Monday during a one-day engagement with the PWDs Electoral Officers (EOs) and Disability Desk Officers at Rockview Hotel Yola.

He explained that every eligible citizen regardless of physical visual hearing intellectual or psychosocial disability has the right to vote and participate in the electoral process without discrimination.

He said ‘Persons with disabilities have the same fundamental right to participate in elections as other eligible citizens. They (PWDs) have the right to participate in the electoral process without discrimination and to receive accurate information about electoral procedures.

‘Persons with disabilities have the right to exercise their franchise freely and without intimidation and be treated with dignity and respect by election officials. They have the right to also report barriers misconduct or other electoral concerns through the appropriate channels.’

He therefore called on the electoral officers to identify and document barriers preventing PWDs from accessing polling units and electoral information while strengthening collaboration with disability organisations and other stakeholders to address the challenges.

On voting arrangements he urged electoral officers to ensure that polling units are accessible to persons with mobility challenges including those using wheelchairs crutches and other assistive devices.

Sha’aba noted that INEC provides ramps to facilitate access to polling units and stressed that election officials should offer necessary assistance without compromising the dignity privacy and independence of voters with disabilities.

For persons with visual impairments he said officials must provide information on approved voting assistance and assistive procedures ensuring that such support complies with electoral guidelines and protects ballot secrecy.

He also called for appropriate communication support for voters who are deaf or hard of hearing including written instructions visual information and sign-language interpretation where available.

He cautioned that assistance provided to voters with disabilities must not be used to influence their choices disclose their voting preferences or undermine the integrity of the electoral process.

Earlier the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Nura Mohammed called for stronger partnerships among INEC disability organisations and civil society groups to improve electoral inclusion.

He said the commission’s interventions include Braille Ballot Guides for visually impaired voters EC30 PWD Written Instruction Posters for deaf voters magnifying glasses for persons with visual impairments and albinism and voter education materials in Braille jingles flyers and posters.

He stressed the need to train stakeholders on the proper deployment of these interventions and take voter education closer to PWDs through schools camps and settlements.

The REC said electoral inclusion must extend beyond election day to cover voter registration education sensitisation and participation as candidates.

He urged stakeholders to work collectively to implement INEC’s inclusive electoral guidelines adding that assistance to voters with disabilities must never be used to influence their choices or compromise ballot secrecy.

The dispute between the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over the Federal Government’s N70000 monthly transport allowance for federal workers has intensified with both labour centres exchanging accusations over their authority to negotiate on behalf of workers.

The NLC President Joe Ajaero on Monday insisted that his congress could independently negotiate labour matters with the Federal Government while the TUC President Festus Osifo accused him of excluding the congress from negotiations.

The disagreement followed the Federal Government’s approval of the N70000 monthly transportation intervention for workers across all levels for six months.

Appearing on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief Ajaero said the NLC could negotiate alone based on the International Labour Organisation’s principle of representation by the most representative workers’ organisation.

‘TUC can negotiate along with NLC but NLC can negotiate alone based on the principle of most workers’ representatives of the ILO’ he said.

He maintained that the TUC could not independently negotiate with labour authorities adding that its proposals had to be submitted through the NLC.

‘TUC sent their negotiation alone ahead of the ILO conference but they returned it back and I had to minute on it.

‘They have to send their list here for me to forward it; that is the position of the ILO. NLC determines how TUC participates’ he said.

Ajaero also cited the Trade Union Amendment Act 2005 and Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution arguing that workers had the right to choose their unions.

‘The 2005 Trade Union Amendment Act made membership of trade unions voluntary. It is the worker that determines the union he belongs to’ he said.

He further argued that only one TUC-affiliated union belonged to the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council while seven of its eight constituent unions were affiliated with the NLC.

On the N70000 transport allowance Ajaero said the NLC secured the intervention after issuing the Federal Government an ultimatum and threatening industrial action.

‘We gave government an ultimatum; we were supposed to start an action. The government asked for four days and to meet with us and we met and they resumed sitting after four days.

‘After the meeting the 70k allowance came up’ he said.

But Osifo described the agreement as an aberration insisting that the TUC was not consulted during the negotiations.

Speaking on the same television programme he challenged Ajaero to produce any ILO regulation authorising one labour centre to negotiate on behalf of another without consultation.

‘He should show me in the ILO regulations where it says one party is going to negotiate without the other one being there or consulted. He should show me! He should show Nigerians!’ Osifo said.

He argued that the existence of separate labour centres meant that neither could claim the right to negotiate for the other without its consent.

‘You cannot negotiate for a body that is represented for a body that has a trade union. You cannot negotiate for them on their behalf! It is not there anywhere!’ he said.

Osifo also faulted Ajaero’s interpretation of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council insisting that the meeting at which the transport allowance was agreed was not a formal council meeting.

‘But that meeting that took place was not the Council meeting. The Minister is not a member of the Council. Ajaero is not a member of the Council. The Council even has a quorum and the number of persons that must be seated to form a quorum. But at the end of the day that meeting was not a JNC meeting. The members of JNC were not there!’ he said.

He further criticised the application of a flat N40000 consequential adjustment across the public service following the increase in the minimum wage from N30000 to N70000.

Osifo said the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council should have determined the consequential adjustments rather than applying the difference uniformly.

The dispute has also drawn three public service trade unions which disowned a press release issued in the name of the JNPSNC on October 30 accusing the council of excluding them from discussions.

The Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies (SSASCGOC) Senior Staff Association of Universities Teaching Hospitals Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI) and Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) said they were neither consulted nor invited to the meeting preceding the statement.

In a joint statement signed by their presidents Kayode Alakija John Alli and Kamal Ibrahim the unions said they did not participate in preparing the release or authorise anyone to speak on their behalf.

They also alleged that the JNPSNC Vice-Chairman representing the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria was excluded from the consultation.

The unions aligned with the TUC in rejecting the N70000 transport intervention describing it as inadequate amid rising costs of transportation food and housing.

They said: ‘With transportation food housing and other essentials becoming increasingly unaffordable this intervention is no substitute for decent wages fair remuneration or sustainable improvement in workers’ living standards.’

They also faulted the previous consequential adjustment alleging that the council applied a flat N40000 addition across the board instead of a 133 per cent adjustment to the lowest-paid worker cascaded across the salary structure.

The unions demanded a review of the adjustment inclusive representation in public service negotiating structures and an end to issuing statements in their name without authorisation.

They maintained that the JNPSNC was a public service negotiating platform not a third national labour centre alongside the NLC and TUC.

The unions declared: ‘You cannot speak for workers without their mandate. You cannot claim consensus without consultation. You cannot negotiate workers’ welfare while denying their unions the right to representation.’-