A Bill to regulate and formalise the employment of domestic workers, apprenticeships, interns and other informal sector employees in Nigeria has scaled second reading in the Senate.
This followed the presentation of the lead debate by the sponsor, Sen. Sani Musa (APC-Niger) during plenary on Tuesday.
The bill is titled “Informal Sector Private Employment Agencies (Regulation) Bill, 2025”.
Leading the debate, Musa said that the bill sought to regulate and formalise the employment of domestic workers apprenticeships, interns and other informal sector employees in Nigeria.
“To empower the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to issue licenses and monitor privately-owned employment agencies whose responsibility will be to enroll employees in their data bank.
“Safeguard and enhance their social security and oversee their recruitment by employers who engaged in legitimate occupation on such terms and conditions as may be agreed by the parties”.
Musa said that the informal sector was usually regarded as the residual labour market where labour is highly heterogeneous and sources of income are not largely wage dependent.
“And working time is discretionary and some jobs are not paid at all”.
He adds that the wide range of information available is that the operations in the sector are usually on a small scale.
“And production technique is labour intensive, while ownership is usually private.
“In most cases, the workers are family members, apprentices and few paid employees,” he said.
Contributing, Sen. Adams Oshiomhole (APC-Edo), said that “this job cannot be assigned to an external agency.
“In fact, the responsibility already lies with the Federal Ministry of Labour.
“A state or city cannot enact a law that contradicts an existing federal law especially not in a way that creates multiple centers of fraud and abuse against Nigerian workers.
“Furthermore, the NDE is not mandated to employ people on behalf of employers.
“Their role is to provide training and retraining programmes, serve as a stop-gap for the unemployed, help people gain skills and eventually become self-employed.
“Handing over employment responsibilities to private employers under this set-up is a dangerous precedent in our labour practices,” he said.
Sen. Osita Izunaso (APC-Imo), said that the bill was clear and self-explanatory, having both pros and cons.
“As a member of the Senate Committee on Labour and Productivity, I can confirm that we have deliberated on a similar bill sponsored by Sen.Babangida Hussaini which focused on regulating domestic workers in private households.
“Eventually, all aspects can be merged or consolidated. If amendments are needed to the NDE Act, we can recommend those changes,” Izunaso argued.
President of Senate, Godswill Akpabio, thereafter, committed the bill to Senate Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity for further legislative action and to report back in six weeks.
