Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC)and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN)have condemned the jumbo pay rise of 100 percent in the emolument of public office holders, describing it as a narrow-minded and skewed approach by the nation's leaders to continue to bask in opulence while the masses swim and wallow in extreme poverty.

TUC's President General, Peter Esele, who spoke to **Daily Independent** from Sweden, called on the Federal Government to show more concern to national issues that would enhance the standard of living of Nigerians on a holistic basis rather than allow selfish interest of privileged few grind the economy to a halt.

He said, "The provocative and scandalous increase in the emolument of legislators and local government chairpersons and councillors shows how our political office holders have placed their selfish interest first before the masses that are in extreme poverty".

Esele, who called on the Federal Government to drop the proposal, noted that the proposed salary increase is neither justified nor defensible on any ground, saying the Nigerian workers will not allow political office holders to collapse the economy before leaving office.

Meanwhile, PENGASSAN, an affiliate of the TUC is ready to join forces with TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)to resist what it called the manipulation of the practice of leadership responsibility, transparency and accountability on social and economic obligations to its citizenry.

In a statement signed by PENGASSAN's President, Babatunde Ogun and its General Secretary, Bayo Olowoshile, the oil workers' association called on the Federal Government to be more focused on people-oriented programmes rather than add to burden of slavery of the nation's citizenry.

It read "While the oil workers are bothered with the negative effects of falling production and crude oil prices, volume of crude oil shut-in in wells and counterpart funding issues that have not been settled by the Federal Government and hence jeopardising the financing of jointly agreed projects on power, gas, crude oil production target (of 4mbpd)by the year 2010, we are taken aback by the conscious and deliberate attempt of this selfish policy decisions of the National Assembly drifting away President, Musa Yar'adua's from his supposedly people-oriented programmes".