Speaking at the 2023 International Women's Day (IWD) celebration organized by the women's commission of the institute, Aremu said that Tinubu's record as a former two-term governor of Lagos state, from 1999 to 2007 and the campaign program of the APC positioned him as the possible best labour-friendly President in waiting.
Aremu added that Tinubu was the first Presidential candidate to engage NLC and TUC members on critical labour market issues with promises of social dialogue as means for resolving inevitable disputes in the world of work.
He described the President-elect and his Vice as "tested and trusted democratic state and non-state icons", which would consolidate some of the pro-labour legacies of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Director General said Tinubu would engage organized labour on all outstanding living wage issues, gender equity, pension, labour motivation, productivity, social protection, and dispute resolutions. He recalled that Tinubu "had been a frequent visiting friend of labour who often intervened between organized labour and government on contentious policy issues at the time it was not fashionable to do so.
Aremu also commended Lagos State under Tinubu's leadership for being at the vanguard of improving workers' welfare. He said that Tinubu not only implemented all the minimum wages passed in the last 20 years but has yet to be known to have defaulted in salary payments to its workers, despite the withheld Local Government Fund.
The state still prioritized payment of salaries for its workers, including local government employees. Lagos has successfully implemented the contributory pension scheme to ensure healthy retirement and guarantee regular pensions to workers in the future.
Aremu said that while many states are yet to sign on to the compulsory Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), Lagos, since 2004, has paid as much as N150 billion to almost 30,000 retirees.
He added that President-elect Tinubu remains the best labour-friendly President in waiting for that would guarantee decent work.
He, however, decried the sharp drop in the number of women candidates in the 2023 elections compared to the 2019 elections. "Democracy is only sustainable with inclusive participation of women as candidates as much as voters," he said.