The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says the late former President Muhammadu Buhari was a patriotic servant leader who stood with the people and put the country first, no matter the cost.

NLC president Joe Ajaero stated this in a condolence message he personally signed on Monday in Abuja.

“For us in the unions, Buhari came fighting the unions and mass-retrenching workers, leading to indescribable suffering during his tenure as a military head of state.

“However, as a civilian president, Buhari saw to it that no worker was laid off (not even during the COVID-19 pandemic).

“He repeatedly gave facilities to state governments to clear the backlogs of salaries and pensions, as well as to enable them to regularly pay salaries (although some governors betrayed this trust),” Mr Ajaero said.

The labour leader said that even though the late president increased the pump prices of petroleum products, he “stoutly refused” to sell off the refineries or devalue the naira.

“Buhari consistently identified with worker issues/values, including resisting pressure to adopt fundamentalist market policies as part of the process of protecting workers and ordinary people.

“In the late president, therefore, we have lost a leader who corrected his mistakes against workers during his second coming. He stood with the people and country, a leader who truly put the country first, no matter the cost,” Mr Ajaero said.

Mr Ajaero said the NLC was deeply saddened by the news of Mr Buhari’s passing, and the members’ hearts were with the immediate family, friends, and associates in their trying moments, especially his wife, Aisha.

He stressed that the late president gave his best to the country and prayed to Allah to forgive his sins as well as grant him peaceful repose.

Mr Buhari passed away on Sunday in a London hospital. His former spokesman, Garba Shehu, announced his death.

President Bola Tinubu had announced a national mourning with flags lowered to half‑mast, and Vice President Kashim Shettima was sent to the United Kingdom to convey Mr Buhari’s body home.

Mr Buhari served as Nigeria’s president from 2015 to 2023 and previously as a military head of state from 1983 to 1985.

 (NAN)