The organised labour in Nigeria has shelved the planned picketing of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) billed for Wednesday, March 29, as the body further gave the apex bank two weeks to make naira notes available across the country.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and her Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart said they would monitor the availability of cash in commercial banks for two weeks before deciding on the next line of action.
Presidents of NLC and TUC, Joseph Ajaero and Festus Osifo respectively in a joint press conference, Tuesday at the end of their National Executive Council (NEC), said the decision was reached after getting reports from the 36 states of the federation.
Ajaero said after receiving briefings from its state councils in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, the NLC decided to defer the planned stay – at – home directive issued to workers last week.
He said the NLC would resume the planned protest if naira notes become unavailable to Nigerians by the end of the two weeks.
The NLC president said a committee has been set up to monitor situations in banks and report to it at the end of the two weeks extension.
Recall that the NLC had issued an ultimatum to go on strike beginning from Wednesday, nationwide, part of which included a plan to picket the various branches of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
It is however not clear whether a meeting summoned by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige on Monday, between the leadership of the NLC and CBN prompted the decision to extend the ultimatum for an additional two weeks.
Ajaero while addressing the press admitted that the cash crunch situation had improved considerably but that there was need to monitor the compliance of cash disbursements through the commercial banks for two more weeks.
President of the TUC, Festus Osifo, who also corroborated Ajaero’s position, said there was need to benchmark the government, not just concerning scarcity of cash but the challenges associated with fuel products and unending queues, including electricity tariff.
Osifo said the CBN had erred in eroding the confidence of the people regarding their monetary policy, hence they need to restore the confidence within the two weeks grace period.