Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

For many years, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to section 2(2)(b) of the Workman’s Compensation Decree No. 17 of 12 June 1987 (Cap. 470). By virtue of this provision, any workman employed in the public service of the Federation, who has first been engaged in a place outside Nigeria and who is not a Nigerian citizen, is excluded from the scope of the above Decree. In this regard, Article 1 of the Convention provides for equality of treatment in respect of accident compensation for the nationals of any other Member which has ratified the Convention, or their dependants, without any condition as to residence. Furthermore, the Convention does not authorize derogations for employees in the public sector.

In its last report, the Government states that the provisions of section 2(2)(b) of the above Decree will be one of the areas to be considered for amendment on the occasion of the forthcoming review of the labour legislation. However, it adds that in practice this provision is not applied to non-Nigerians. While noting this latter information, the Committee considers that it is necessary to clarify the situation of workers employed in the public service of the Federation who have first been engaged outside Nigeria and who are not nationals of Nigeria with regard to compensation for any employment accidents that they may suffer. It trusts that, on the occasion of the review of the labour legislation, the Government will not fail to take the necessary measures in this respect. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the number of workers concerned and the employment accident compensation scheme which is applicable to them.