The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has announced that there would be a strike across the country beginning the following Wednesday.
This comes in the wake of widespread fuel shortages caused by President Bola Tinubu’s inaugural speech, in which he stated that “fuel subsidy is gone”
Following a meeting of its National Executive Council (NEC) in Abuja, the union made the announcement of the industrial action on Friday. The meeting was held to discuss the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy and the subsequent increase in the price of gasoline at the pump.
The NEC is made up of the Presidents, General Secretaries, and Treasurers of all of the NLC’s affiliate unions, as well as the Chairperson of the NLC Youth Committee, State Chairpersons and Secretaries of the NLC State Councils, and members of the National Administrative Council (NAC).
You may remember that the meeting over the removal of fuel subsidies that was held on Wednesday between the federal government and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) ended without a consensus being reached.
On Wednesday, about four o’clock in the afternoon, the gathering got underway at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, and Dele Alake, spokesperson for Tinubu, were among the representatives of the Federal Government who were there at the time.
Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and Adams Oshiomhole, the former Governor of Edo State, were two of the other figures from the Nigerian government that were present.
Joe Ajaero, the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and Festus Osifo, the President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), were the individuals that stood in for the organized labor movement.
After several hours of meeting with the Federal Government, the NLC demanded that the Federal Government revert to the status quo by reversing the price of petrol before continuing negotiations with the NLC. This demand came after the Federal Government had met with the NLC for several hours.
Joe Ajaero, the National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, has warned that the status quo will return before any official engagement with the NLC to defend the Nigerian labor and propose other options. Joe Ajaero has criticized the elimination of the subsidy.
The Nigerian National Congress (NLC) stated that the Federal Government did not participate into any discourse, not even about palliative measures for Nigerians; as a result, the NLC did not accept the most recent pronouncement.
The union announced that it has made the decision to get back together with its members to discuss the next step in the process.
In the meantime, Alake characterized the meeting as fruitful and added that further discussions would take place. According to the Daily Trust, he voiced his optimism that the parties will be able to come to an acceptable agreement during the subsequent meeting that had been deferred.
According to reports from earlier, the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) issued a call to the federal government led by Tinubu, demanding that it immediately urge the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to drop its “vexatious Pricing template.” This would allow free flow of conversations with the government regarding the removal of subsidies.
It was stated that President Tinubu made the announcement that there would be no more fuel subsidies during his inaugural speech on Monday at the Eagle Square in Abuja. And only a few hours after the speech, long lines formed again at gas stations all around the country as a result of a shortage of fuel brought on by fuel dealers’ panic buying and stockpiling of premium motor spirit, which is also known as gasoline.
However, just a few hours before the anticipated meeting of organized labor with officials of the government, NNPCL announced a list of adjusted pump rates for its mega stations in all 36 states of the federation and in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
According to the newly published price list, the new pump price for premium motor spirit (PMS) runs from N488 in Lagos State to N557 per litre in Yobe and Borno States, while the price in Abuja is N537 and the price in Enugu is N520. Lagos State has the lowest price at N488, while Yobe and Borno States have the highest price at N557.
