NLC Declares Nationwide Strike From Wednesday Over Fuel Subsidy Crisis
The Nigeria Labour Congess (NLC) has declared a nationwide strike from next Wednesday.
This comes amid fuel shortages across the country occasioned by President Bola Tinubu’s inaugural speech in which he declared that “fuel subsidy is gone”.
The union announced the industrial action today, following a meeting of its National Executive Council (NEC) in Abuja over the fuel subsidy removal and subsequent hike in the pump price of petrol.
The NEC comprises all Presidents, General Secretaries, Treasurers of all NLC’s affiliate unions; State Chairpersons and Secretaries of the NLC State Councils, Chairperson of the NLC Youth Committee and members of the National Administrative Council (NAC).
The meeting initially held between the federal government and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) over fuel subsidy removal ended without a consensus.
The meeting began around 4pm on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Representatives of the Federal Government had included Dele Alake, the spokesperson for Tinubu; and the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari.
Other government officials present were the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele; and former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole.
The Organized Labour was represented by the NLC National President, Joe Ajaero; and the President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Festus Osifo.
After several hours of meeting with the Federal Government, the NLC had demanded that the Federal Government return to the status quo by reversing the price of fuel before resuming negotiations with the NLC.
The National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, who criticised the removal of subsidy stated that the status quo returns before any formal engagement with the NLC to protect the Nigerian workforce and proffer additional solutions.
The NLC insisted that the Federal Government did not enter into any conversation even on palliative measures for Nigerians, hence the rejection of the latest announcement.
The union said it had decided to reconvene with its members to determine the next line of action.
Meanwhile, Alake described the meeting as robust, adding that talks would continue. He expressed hope that the parties would reach a reasonable conclusion at its next adjourned meeting.
The NLC had earlier called on Tinubu-led federal government to immediately instruct the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to withdraw its “vexatious Pricing template” to allow free flow of discussions with the government on subsidy removal.
It had been reported that President Tinubu announced during his inaugural speech on Monday at the Eagle Square, Abuja that there would be no more fuel subsidy. And hours after the speech, long queues returned to filling stations across the country amid fuel scarcity occasioned by panic buying and hoarding of premium motor spirit, otherwise called petrol, by fuel dealers.
However, few hours to the proposed meeting of organised labour with Government representatives, NNPCL released a list of adjusted pump prices for its mega stations across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
According to the released price list, the new pump price for premium motor spirit (PMS), ranges from N488 in Lagos State to N557 per litre in Yobe and Borno states, while it is N537 in Abuja and Enugu N520.
