NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY CENTRE ACT

There is hereby established a body to be known as the National Productivity Centre (in this Act referred to as "the Centre"), which under that name shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, and may sue and be sued in its corporate name.

(1) There shall be established for the management of the affairs of the Centre, a council to be known as the National Productivity Council (in this Act referred to as "the Council").
(2) The Council shall determine the overall policy of the Centre, including the financial and operational programmes thereof and shall ensure the effective implementation of such policies and programmes.
(3) The Council shall, from time to time, assess the research, consultancy and training programmes relative to productivity, conducted by the State branches of the Centre and other associate institutions, with a view to ascertaining their suitability and to offering them such assistance, either alone or in co-operation with other professional bodies, as may improve the quality and content of productivity promotion measures in Nigeria.
(4) The Council may, subject to such conditions as it may impose, delegate any of the powers conferred on it by this Act (including its powers to appoint and exercise disciplinary control) to any of its committees or the Director-General, as the case may be.
(5) Nothing in this section shall prevent the Council from exercising any of the powers so delegated.
(6) The supplementary provisions contained in the Schedule to this Act, shall have effect with respect to the proceedings of the Council and the other matters mentioned therein.

(1) The Council shall consist of a chairman to be appointed by the President, and the following other members, that is-
(a) two persons selected from workers' organisations;
(b) one person each to represent each of the following organisations of employers-
(i) the Nigeria Employers' Consultative Association; and
(ii) the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture;
(c) one person each to represent the Federal Ministries charged with responsibility for matters relating to-
(i) industry;
(ii) employment, labour and productivity; and
(iii) budget and planning;
(d) one person each to represent the following bodies-
(i) the Nigerian Institute for Social and Economic Research;
(ii) the Centre for Management Development; and
(e) the Director-General of the Centre.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, a person appointed as a member of the Council (not being an ex-officio member) shall hold office for four years and shall be eligible for reappointment for a further period of four years.
(3) Members of the Council who are not ex-officio members shall be appointed by the President, who may also remove any such member, if he is satisfied that it is not in the interest of the Centre that the person concerned should continue in office.

(1) The Centre shall stimulate consciousness towards the attainment of higher levels of productivity in all sectors of the Nigerian economy and shall promote international co-operation for the enhancement of national productivity.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, the Centre shall-
(a) promote, develop and provide services aimed at utilising to the fullest all available and potential resources, in order to secure for the people of Nigeria a better and higher standard of living;
(b) if the Council so approves, accept technical aid and channel same into any scheme aimed at the advancement or increase in the level of productivity;
(c) conduct studies in contemporary methods of increasing productivity and assist business concerns to set up productivity schemes;
(d) disseminate information on methods and programmes for improving the level of productivity in industries;
(e) provide consultancy and advisory services to management and workers in the field of industrial relations, industrial engineering, personnel management, production planning, work study and job evaluation, with a view to increasing productivity and improving the payment system in the organisation concerned;
(f) provide training facilities by organising courses and seminars which are specially designed to improve competence, supervisory skill and inspiring a consciousness towards increased productivity among workers and the management of business organisations;
(g) conduct studies on the levels of productivity in every sector of the economy and encourage business enterprises to set up productivity teams, charged with the setting up of targets and schemes of productivity;
(h) encourage the formation of productivity committees and establish branches of the National Productivity Centre in each State of Nigeria;
(i) liaise on a continuous basis with the Centre for Management Development, the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria and any similar institution, or association which the Council may consider will further the objectives of the Centre;
(j) liaise with the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development and any similar international organisation, engaged in the promotion of productivity.
(3) The Centre shall carry out such other functions, not inconsistent with its objectives under this Act, as the Minister may, from time to time, assign to it.

(1) There shall be an officer of the Centre to be known as the Director-General, who shall be appointed by the President.
(2) The Director-General shall, subject to this Act, be the chief executive of the Centre and shall be responsible to the Council for the day-to-day management of the affairs of the Centre.
(3) The Director-General shall hold office on such terms and conditions as may be determined, from time to time, by the President.

(1) There shall be appointed by the Council an officer of the Centre, who shall be known as the secretary to the Council.
(2) The secretary shall, in addition to any other duties assigned to him by the Council or the Director-General, as the case may be, keep the records of the Centre and act as the secretary to the Council and of any committee thereof and conduct the correspondence of the Council.
(3) The Council shall employ such other staff to assist the Director-General in the performance of his functions as the Council may, after consultation with the Minister, determine from time to time.

(1)
The Centre shall establish and maintain a library comprising such books, records and other publications as may be directed by the Council, for the advancement of knowledge in the area of work undertaken by the Centre, for research purposes and for other purposes connected with the functions conferred on the Council by or pursuant to this Act.
(2) For the purposes of providing offices and premises necessary for the performance of its functions under this Act, the Council may acquire land in any manner authorised by law and build, equip and maintain offices and premises on such land.
(3) The Council may, with the prior approval of the Minister, dispose in any manner authorised by law such of its land or premises as is no longer required for its purposes.

(1) The Centre may accept gifts of land or other property upon such terms and conditions, if any, as may be specified by the person or organisation making the gift.
(2) The Centre shall not accept any gift if the conditions attached by the person or organisation making the gift to the acceptance thereof are inconsistent with the functions of the Centre or its position as a non-partisan institution, free from any undue external influence.

The Centre may, with the consent of the Minister or in accordance with the general authority issued in that behalf by the Minister, borrow by way of loan or overdraft from any source any moneys required by the Centre for meeting its obligations and discharging its functions under this Act.

(1) The Centre shall establish and maintain a fund, which shall be applied towards the promotion of the objectives of the Centre specified in this Act.
(2) There shall be paid and credited to the fund established pursuant to subsection (1) of this section-
(a) such sums as may be provided by the Government of the Federation for payment into the fund;
(b) all subscriptions and fees charged for services rendered by the Centre;
(c) subject to section 8 (2) of this Act, all sums accruing to the Centre by way of gifts, testamentary dispositions, endowments or contributions from philanthropic persons or organisations or otherwise howsoever; and
(d) all moneys raised by the Centre by way of loan or overdraft in accordance with section 9 of this Act.

(1) The Council shall cause to be prepared and submitted to the Minister, not later than 30 June in each year or such other time as he may direct, an estimate of the expenditure and income of the Centre during the next succeeding financial year.
(2) The Centre shall cause to be kept proper accounts and proper records in relation thereto and when certified by the Council, such accounts shall be audited as soon as may be after the end of each year, by auditors appointed from the list of auditors and in accordance with the guidelines supplied by the Auditor-General for the Federation.

(1) The Council shall, not later than 30 July in each year submit to the Minister a report on the activities of the Centre and its administration during the immediately preceding year and shall include in such report the audited accounts of the Centre and the auditor's report thereon.
(2) The Minister shall, as soon as may be after the receipt of the report, submit to the President, such report, together with any comments thereon made by him.

The Minister may give to the Council directions of a general nature with respect to any of the functions of the Council or the Centre and it shall be the duty of the Council to comply with such directions or cause them to be complied with.

(1) All manufacturing and industrial concerns, organisations, institutions, individuals and other interest groups recognised by the Council, shall be eligible for election for associate membership of the Centre and on election, shall be conferred with such rights as the Council may, from time to time, determine.
(2) The Council shall prescribe the fees payable by organisations and persons elected as associate members of the Centre.

There shall, by virtue of this Act and without further assurances, be vested in the Centre at the commencement of this Act all rights, interests, obligations, assets and liabilities which immediately before the commencement of this Act, were vested in an unincorporated body known as the National Productivity Committee (in this Act referred to as "the Committee".)

(1) It is hereby declared that service in the Centre shall be approved service for the purposes of the Pensions Act and, accordingly, officers and other persons employed in the Centre shall in respect of their service in the Centre be entitled to pensions, gratuities and other retirement benefits as are prescribed thereunder, so however that nothing in this Act shall prevent the appointment of a person to any office on terms which preclude the grant of a pension, gratuity or other retirement benefits in respect of that office.
(2) For the purposes of the application of the provisions of the Pensions Act, any power exercisable thereunder by a Minister or other authority of the Government of the Federation (not being the power to make regulations under section 23 thereof) is hereby vested in and shall be exercisable by the Council and not by any other person or authority.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"Centre" means the National productivity Centre, established by section 1 (1) of this Act;
"Council" means the National Productivity Council set up under section 2 (1) of this Act;
"Director-General" means the Director-General of the Centre appointed pursuant to section 5 (1) of this Act;
"Minister" means the Minister for the time being charged with responsibility for matters relating to productivity.

This Act may be cited as the National Productivity Centre Act.