NLC Knocks NBS For Fabricating Statistics On GDP and Unemployment
Aspects of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report have been contested by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The NBS reported on Monday that the nation’s unemployment rate dropped from 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2024 to 4.3 percent in the second quarter (Q2) of 2024.
The employment-to-population ratio, which compares the number of employed people to the total working-age population, rose to 76.1 percent in Q2 2024, according to the report.
The national assistant general secretary of the NLC, Chris Onyeka, who criticised the report and described it as a “voodoo document” that it fails to reflect the stark realities Nigerians face daily.
Onyeka also said the figures are a “fabrication designed to mislead the public”, adding that the data was inconsistent with the deteriorating economic landscape.
“Unemployment cannot be coming down in Nigeria when factories are closing shops,” he said.
“It cannot be coming down when there is increasing inventory and reduced consumer spending. If anything, unemployment is increasing.”
He further questioned the methodology behind the report, describing it as a “figment of imagination concocted by people who want to manipulate figures”.
He also challenged the NBS to substantiate its claims by identifying the sectors supposedly generating jobs.
“Once data does not reflect reality, it loses relevance. Unfortunately, the NBS has lost credibility as a result of the data they continue spewing out,” he said.
“Where are the jobs coming from? Is it from employers who are complaining of consumer resistance and slowing economic activities? It doesn’t add up.
“The truth remains: the NBS has become a failed institution, much like INEC in the eyes of the public.”
