Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention, 1925 (No. 19) - Nigeria (Ratification: 1960)

For many years, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to section 2(2)(b) of Workmen’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 Decree. In this regard, Article 1 of the Convention provides for equality of treatment in respect of accident compensation for 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 merely indicates that a draft law concerning non-Nigerian workers is currently being examined by the national assembly and that the situation of these workers does not cause any problems in respect of compensation for occupational accidents.

The Committee takes due note of this information. It hopes that the ongoing reform will be an opportunity for the Government to clarify the situation concerning workers employed in the public service who have first been engaged in a place outside Nigeria and who are not Nigerian nationals, in respect of compensation for any occupational accidents that they may fall victim to. The Committee trusts that, in its next report, the Government will be able to inform it of the progress made in this matter with a view to bringing national legislation into line with the Convention and that it will communicate copies of any new normative texts governing the situation of this category of public service worker. The Committee also asks the Government, once again, to indicate how many workers of this type there are and which occupational accident compensation scheme is applicable to them.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2008.]