The Presidency Wednesday said the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress(TUC) have resolved to stop further protest.
Announcing this in a statement in Abuja, the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Mr. Dele Alake, said the decision followed the “fruitful and frank discussion with President Tinubu and their confidence in his ability to encourage open and honest consideration of all the issues put forward by the Labour Movement.”
While the NLC was led to the meeting held at the State House Abuja by its President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, the TUC side had Comrade Festus Usifo as leader of the delegation.
The meeting was the first the President was personally involved since the organised labour declared the intention to embark on protest over the removal of fuel subsidy.
Alake said the leadership of the unions opted for further constructive engagement with the government to resolve all outstanding issues as they affect the working people and Nigerians in general.
He said President Tinubu gave his commitment to the Labour leaders that the Port Harcourt refineries would start production by December 2023 after the completion of the ongoing rehabilitation contract between NNPCL and Italian firm, Maire Tecnimont SpA.
Alake added that President Tinubu assured the Labour leaders that he would continue to work for the best interest of Nigeria while pleading with them to join hands with him to birth a better and economically buoyant country.
Labour’s position
Fielding questions from State House correspondents after the meeting, Comrade Ajaero said the meeting was fruitful and productive.
Asked whether the president requested them to call off the protest, the NLC leader said: “The President is a pro-democracy activist. So, he understands protests.”
He said the leadership of the NLC and the TUC would report to their National Executive Council the commitments made by the president for the next line of action.
“We met with him. The issues we discussed are the same issues that led to the protest today. He has expressed his position, made some commitments, which were taken side-by-side with what the Senate said, and we’re taking it back to the office with our colleagues to review it and release a document on our next line of action,” the NLC president said.
On whether what was presented was different from the content of the presidential broadcast, the NLC President said: “We have gone deeper into them. The broadcast has broader issues, but there are one or two things that need immediate attention.”
He said the only organ of the NLC and TUC that has the power to call off the nationwide protests is the National Executive Council which would meet to appraise the situation.
“No one person can call it off. That’s why I say we’ll have to go back to the office. So that they will look at it the EXCO looks at it before they come up. And by tomorrow, the NLC will equally have their NEC meeting, to look at the bigger picture,” he said.
The protest
Earlier, Nigerian workers in their numbers had Wednesday protested the “harsh economic policies” of Tinubu led government.
The workers who gathered at the Unity Fountain Abuja as early at 8:am, said the recent hike in the fuel pump price had resulted in a skyrocketed increase in the cost of goods and services.
Similar protests were carried out across the country, especially the state capitals.
Led by both the NLC and TUC presidents, the workers marched from the Unity Fountain and stopped over at the Federal Ministry of Justice, to pass a message to the Solicitor General of Nigeria over the court order restraining them from going on protest.
NLC
Addressing workers at the Ministry of Justice, Comrade Ajaero accused the Solicitor General of giving what he described as “bad” and “evil” advice to the government against the interest of Nigerians.
At the National Assembly where they met the gate locked, the angry workers, chanting solidarity songs, and some shouting ‘ole ole’(thief, thief) pulled down the gate.
While presenting a letter to the Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume, Comrade Ajaero said the organised Labour was considering the strike option over the recent hike in fuel pump price to N617, since the government failed to honour the court order on the initial N520 increase that all parties should remain at status quo.
“We demand the immediate implementation in good faith, all the resolutions with Congress jointly signed with government and TUC. Immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies of government including the recent hike in PMS price, school fees and VAT.
“There was a hike of 520 and in four weeks a committee was set up by the government, in four weeks the government went to court and got injunction, four weeks the courts announced that the status quo should remain and the court has not met between that time and now. Two adjournments and the court did not meet and one of the parties went ahead to increase again to N617.
“We have come here to protest that very issue because we have not gone on strike for N617 and we are going to consider that option after now because the issue of strike and court order was all around N520 and we have not even addressed it and another went ahead to increase it again,” he said.
He called on the Senate to interrogate and review the “No Work No Pay” law, adding that because workers’ disagreement with government led to a protest was not enough reason for government to punish them for addressing their rights by law.
The labour leader also urged government to channel the money realised from the fuel subsidy removal into fixing all local refineries, saying that remained the only solution to the current problem.
“The fixing of all local refineries in the recent address by Mr President, no comment was made on this and we cannot continue to run an import-driven energy system. It will depend on forces of the market.
“Now that you have removed subsidy, we need negotiable wage award to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal. The wage committee that was set up by the government has not been inaugurated, so it will be wrong to say they are negotiating when the committee has not started work today. So, let us put a disclaimer to this; we have never met the wage committee to discuss anything about wages,” Ajaero said.
TUC
Also speaking, TUC President Osifo asked government to join Nigerians in making sacrifices for the greater good of the country by cutting down on the cost of governance.
Osifo said: “We strongly believe that the government of today is highly insensitive, and that government is both the executive, the judiciary and the legislature.
“We believe strongly that you cannot ask Nigerians to keep tightening their belts, sacrificing. The Nigerian masses have been battered, the Nigerian masses have suffered, the Nigerian masses are passing through excruciating difficulty but in all of these we have not heard what the president has said regarding the cost of governance.
“It is grossly insensitive for them to be musing to spend N70bn to furnish their offices. We have told them to pay a visit to the secretariat and see how people are suffering, to see how people work without light for months to see that to even go to the toilet everywhere is smelling. We are all equal Nigerians, we have equal stake in project Nigeria.
“We want you at the National Assembly to also sacrifice, cut down your budget, to buy Innoson motors, we don’t want you to go and buy foreign cars because you are creating jobs over there and importing suffering over here.
“You must show leadership. You must lead on the front because we elected you to work for us. We know that the condition with which you work is also important. We are not insensitive but all we are saying is that you must sacrifice.”
Senate pleads
Responding, Senate Whip Mohammed Ali Ndume representing Borno South, faulted the executive for failing to take negotiations with labour serious.
While appealing to Nigerians to give the lawmakers one week to find lasting solutions to the issues raised by labour, he insisted that the President or Vice President should be a part of any negotiation with the labour movement.
“The National Assembly, especially the Senate, has been following keenly what is going on. When we realize that there is a breakdown in the discussion between the Presidency and the NLC the day before yesterday, one of our colleagues brought a motion on this labour crisis that we are facing and the need for the Senate to intervene.
“There is a motion that we passed on Monday when we sat before we started the screening. We brought that motion and that is to look at what is happening. Why is the negotiation stalled? We have a problem.
“I understand now what the (NLC) President is saying and I am in support that the NLC should be negotiating with either the President or the Vice President, and If because of their schedule they can’t be there, then let an acceptable representation continue the discussion.
“We stand with you on that. And as I say, please have confidence in the National Assembly or give us a trial. Let the leadership of the Senate be involved in your negotiations. Give us a chance and if we fail you can go ahead and take your decision. This should be a warning to the Presidency, to the National Assembly and to everybody. If nothing tangible comes out of our effort, then you can take action. Please give us one week and if you are not satisfied with the progress we are making, the you can take further action,” Ndume said.
He further added: “Let us find a permanent solution to this and the solution can be achieved. Refineries are not working Dangote started a refinery and up till now nothing. Let us ask these questions and it is not enough to take these money to the local refineries. How much have been given to them and what happened, nothing. So let them find concrete solutions to our problems.
“In order to implement what we have agreed, we have formed a committee and between today and tomorrow we will hold the first meeting with labour and start the engagement. We will do our best as your representative to come out with an acceptable solution.”
Lagos workers want N30, 000 palliative
In a related development, the Lagos state chapter of the NLC has requested N30, 000 subsidy palliative from the state government to assuage the hardship caused by the fuel subsidy removal.
The chairperson, Funmi Sessi, said this Wednesday while presenting a charter of demands to the deputy governor of the state, Kadri Hamzat.
Addressing the deputy governor, Sessi said: “We need a subsidy palliative. Our minimum wage can no longer take care of our burdens.
“Many people are dying and hungry. We know the state government is trying, but they still need to do more.
“We need a subsidy palliative of N30, 000 each for workers for the next six months. We know the government has slashed BRT fares, but we want to be able to put food on our table. Some of us have cars; we need to buy fuel.
“We want health care to be affordable. Agencies and parastatals should get buses to transmit workers to and fro. We want a stakeholders’ dialogue with the state government. We also need food banks; we want stomach infrastructure; it is very important.”
During the protest, placards-carrying protesters converged on the Ikeja Underbridge around 6:30 a.m. to demand that: “Let poor Nigerians breathe, end fuel price increase, stop Naira devaluation, fix local refineries”, amongst other demands.
The protesters were also at state House of Assembly and joined human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 election, Omoyele Sowore.
