A bill seeking to grant five months leave for female and male workers who lost their spouses has scaled second reading at the House of Representatives.

This followed the presentation of the general principles of the bill by the sponsor, Rep. Saidu Abdullahi (APC-Niger) at plenary on Tuesday, who argued that the bill was to place Nigeria among the top countries in the world in terms of workers welfare as the law existed in many countries.

He said research findings had shown that in Nigeria, public sector organisations grant up to 14 days leave for workers who lost their spouses for the burials. 

In his ruling, the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, referred the bill to the House Committee on Public Sector Reforms for further legislative actions.