By Mathew Dadiya, Abuja

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), yesterday refused to honour a meeting convened by the Federal Government as representatives of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) met with FG officials at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on the controversy surrounding the recent removal of fuel subsidy by the Bola Tinubu-led administration.

The meeting, which kicked off about 5pm yesterday, was at the instance of the Federal Government, to be discuss fallouts from the removal of fuel subsidy.

The NLC insisted that the Federal Government must reverse the price of the Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMs) to the old rate before they will honour any invitation for further discussion.

At yesterday’s meeting, the Federal Government and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) failed to resolve the lingering issue on subsidy removal as it was adjourned to Tuesday for the two parties to consider different demands made.

This was as the government said that a lot of demands made by the organised labour in respect of the subsidy removal are not impracticable.

The TUC, at the meeting has demanded a review of the minimum wage to reflect the economic realities of the time and the government promised to set up a tripartite committee to that effect.

Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting that was held at the Conference Hall of the Chief of Staff to the President at the presidential villa, Abuja, the leader of the government delegation, Dele Alake said that the meeting went smoothly with some demands made from both parties.

Though he said that some of the demands of the TUC, were not impracticable, the demands would be presented to President Bola Tinubu.

He said the two parties agreed to reconvene on Tuesday to consider the demands

“Well, as you all know, we had this reconvened meeting today as we promised you few days ago when we had the initial meeting with the Labour movement.

“”We said we were going to reconvened today to keep the engagement on in order to diffuse the tension in the land as a result of the withdrawal of subsidy, which is a reality.

“Now, we are very happy to announce to Nigerians that this engagement has been very productive. The TUC that attended today’s meeting presented a list of demands and those demands we have studied and we are going to present to Mr President, for his consideration. 

“But those demands we can announce to Nigerians that a lot of the items on the list, are not impracticable. What we need to do is to study the numbers very well. Then, we have asked the TUC to also give us a leeway to consult very exhaustively and reconvene on Tuesday to actually look at the numbers, viability, practicability of all the items that have been presented to us.

“Now, most important and top priority on the list which the government is also looking at very seriously and the president has announced before, is the issue of the minimum wage which the Labour movement has demanded is the consequential impact of this removal of subsidy.

“So, government is to look at that and Mr President is most likely going to constitute a tripartite committee that is a committee of federal government, including the state and then the organised Labour and the private sector.

“Now, this is a tripartite arrangement, it will be a committee that will study all the dynamics of a wage increase in percentages, the numbers and the categories that will be affected.

“So, by Tuesday when we come back to reconvene, to meet with the TUC again, we should have very concrete items to present to the world.  But the most important thing for today is that we are making appreciable progress with the Labour,” Alake said.

On the other demands beyond the minimum wage, he said, “It is a list but we are not going to be listing all of them now. The most important is the minimum wage, that is increase of minimum wage. Because, when this thing is removed, the argument of Labour is that there is an immediate impact on the workers, on the purchasing power because price of fuel has gone up.

“So, that will necessarily reduce the purchasing power of the average worker. So, the next thing of immediate consequence is to increase the purchasing power of the worker. So that to me and to all of us on this side is the top most priority on the list.

“There are other things like the tax holidays which some categories of workers will be beneficiaries. But the most important is the minimum wage,” he said.

Asked if the government team is negotiating separately with the NLC, he said, “No we are not but we are making efforts to reach NLC. We all agreed that we are going to meet here but again, in this game there are dynamics, sometime they could be meeting with their own executive and not able to meet with us, or they could want to postpone or they have not actually articulated their list of demands as the TUC.

“”But we cannot second guess why they are not here. But efforts are being made to reach them, we are not isolating them at all,” he added.

Further asked how soon the committee will be set up, he said, “Very very soon. We are going to meet Mr President now and we are going to give him a feedback on this and he is going to take an immediate decision.

“And like I said, Mr President himself, you all reported him, he has said that there will be a review of the minimum wage, you are reported it.

“So, we are not in disagreement with labour at all on that on that particular issue.”

On whether the allegation made by one of the President’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga accusing the NLC of pandering to the wishes of Peter Obi, was discussed at the meeting, Alake said, “No not at all. It has no relevance to the discussion on the concrete terms of the welfare of the workers. Our discussion was majorly on the welfare of workers, how to cushion the impact of this subsidy removal on workers that’s all. Not on any political partisanship.”

Further asked who is leading the government team in this negotiation, he simply said, “Of course you can see all of us here, you can see the GCEO of NNPC, you can see some of us who have been mandated by the president. And don’t forget that a presidential system of government is executive in capacity.

“The president can appoint anybody, he can even appoint consultants to act on his behalf, so there is no issue about that. It is not actually germane.”

While fielding question on whether the government team was able to convince labour to shelve the proposed strike, he said, “Of course we discussed that, and that is why we are still going to reconvene on Tuesday and that is appreciable progress.”

Also on whether the labour’s demand that the government should revert to the old pump price of the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, he said, “Of course we did. We touched on that, everybody looked at the practicability of that, the viability and otherwise. Now, the issue is that we will close all of those ones on Tuesday when we reconvene. Concrete decisions will be taken about that and then we will reach logical conclusions.”

Also speaking, the President of TUC, Festus Osifo said that among the demands presented to government was the issue of review of the minimum wage.

“Government told us the reason why they did what they did but we did not agree with them, they presented some of the things they considered as palliatives, those are the things they presented to us that we should consider them in the meeting, but we told them no, that we cannot consider them in that meeting, they we are going back to call our respective organs.

“So we went back, we called the NEC of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria on Friday and during the meeting, the NEC of TUC decided that because we have already told government as at Wednesday that we are taking their demands back, we want to go and look at them because they asked us what was our demand, we said we didn’t have the mandate as at then.

“We went back, we called our meeting on Friday, we had extensive deliberations and our NEC now mandated us with some lists of demands to come and meet with the government today.

“The meeting we have just concluded, we have detailed and marshalled out the list of our demands to them. They also in turn told us that when they presented the items to us on.”

“They also in turn told us that when they presented the items to us on Wednesday we told them that we were going back to our principals, so they also need to touch base with Mr President so that we’ll reconvene this meeting again on Tuesday.

“Topmost in our demands was clearly stated, that for utmost good faith and in the interest of social dialogue, that they should revert to back the pump price while discussions continues”

On why NLC was not at the meeting, Osifo said, “Because when you call an organ meeting and organ takes a life of its own, the decision of your organ is what you are expected to implement. All of us here today are agents of NEC of TUC, the NEC of TUC took a decision and that decision is what we’re trying to push through,” he said.

Asked whether TUC was satisfied with discussion so far reached, he said, “Yes, we have presented the list of our demands to them and they received it in good faith that they will go back to their principal and come back to us on Tuesday. So we’re hopeful that the demands that we have presented will be reviewed in the best interest of Nigerian workers and the entire Nigerian masses”.

“The demands are so long, they are so many, part of it is the demand for a (review) of the minimum wage and we stated that for us, quite apt that the minimum today is not a living wage, as we all know. The value of the minimum wage since it was negotiated, has plummeted to a very abysmal level, as it is today.

“Because they are going back to Mr President, we also think that we should also give them that benefit of doubt because the things we presented to them the last time, they did not also reveal it before the press so it is also quite apt for them to go back, maybe when we meet on Tuesday, we can dissect them one after the other and be much more specific,” he further said.

Nationwide Blackout Looms as Electricity Workers Join NLC’s Planned Strike

Electricity workers, under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), said they will join the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in its planned strike over the removal of petrol subsidy.

On Friday, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) issued a five-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to revert to the old price of petrol or face a nationwide protest.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the Federal Government had until Wednesday to revert to the old price of N185.

Ajaero said the congress would mobilise its members across the country for a strike and mass protest.

Journalists have also promised to join the industrial action.

The NUEE, in a notice signed by Acting General Secretary, Dominic Igwebike, urged its members to comply with the directive and stop work from the early hours of Wednesday.

“Sequel to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on June 2, 2023 at the Labour house Abuja, over the sudden removal of fuel subsidy which has brought untold hardship to Nigerians as well as increased inflation in the economy, the NLC has directed that the nationwide withdrawal of Services action will commence on Wednesday, June 7, 2023.

“To this effect, all National, State and Chapter executives are requested to start the mobilisation of our members in total compliance with this directive.

“Please note that withdrawal of Services nationwide commences from 0.00 hours of Wednesday, June 7, 2023,” the memo read.

Following the union’s decision, Nigeria may witness another round of blackouts beginning on Wednesday.

Cracks in NLC as North, South-west Chapters Shun Planned Strike

The planned industrial action scheduled for Wednesday by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has experienced a setback as the union appears divided with the South-west and northern states’ chapters pulling out of the proposed action.

This is as one of the spokespersons of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bayo Onanuga, has accused the President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, of working for the Labour Party (LP) and attempting to destabilise the newly inaugurated government with the planned strike.

It was gathered last night that following the alleged politicisation of the planned action that was scheduled in protest against the removal of petrol subsidy, the South-west and northern states’ chapters have resolved to back out of the plan.

However, to make the strike effective, NLC has written all its 43 affiliate unions to mobilise for the scheduled industrial action.

However, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has weighed in on the controversy over the removal of subsidy by President Bola Tinubu, saying his party had initiated the removal but would have provided palliatives.

Atiku, who referred to Tinubu’s administration as a “temporary government,” expressed confidence that he would reclaim his “stolen mandate” at the court.

The planned strike by the NLC is in reaction to the removal of the petrol subsidy, which led to a hike in the pump price of petrol. Some of the affiliates of the NLC include the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), among others.

In a letter written to the affiliates, which was signed by the NLC General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, the Congress said: “We bring you greetings from the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress. You will recall that arising from the National Executive Council meeting held on June 2, 2023, it was decided that Congress will embark on a nationwide action and withdrawal of services, against the fraudulent increase in the prices of fuel across the thirty-six states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the FCT.

“Please be informed that the nationwide action will commence on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. To this effect, all national leaders are expected to mobilise their members for the action and ensure full compliance with the directives as services in both the public and private sectors are expected to be fully withdrawn by Wednesday, June 7, 2023. All Presidents and General Secretaries are expected to help ensure the implementation of the decisions of the National Executive Council,” the NLC explained.

During his inaugural speech at the Eagle Square in Abuja, the President, Bola Tinubu declared that the era of subsidy payment on fuel has ended.

Tinubu had also disclosed that the 2023 budget did not make provision for fuel subsidy as such, further payment is no longer justifiable.

“The fuel subsidy is gone,” Tinubu had declared, adding that his government would instead channel funds into infrastructure and other areas to strengthen the economy.

The presidential pronouncement led to an instant return of fuel queues across the country, with Nigerians lamenting the sharp increase in the price of petrol at the various filling stations.

This development led to the resistance of the organised labour to what the workers described as Tinubu’s unilateral action.

To cushion the attendant hardship, President Tinubu later promised to review the minimum wage to align with the current economic realities of the country.

According to him, the federal and state governments need to take a look at the minimum wage together and also strengthen the source and application of the country’s revenue.

He made this known on Friday while meeting with the members of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), who declared support for him on the removal of subsidy.

APC Accuses Union of Working for Labour Party

In his reaction to the threat by the labour unions, one of the spokespersons the APC, Onanuga, has accused the President of NLC, Ajaero, of attempting to destabilise the newly inaugurated government with the planned strike.

Onanuga, who posted a statement on Twitter yesterday, said Ajaero was privy to the fact that the government was going to remove the subsidy and accused him of playing politics with the decision. He asked Nigerians to ignore Ajaero’s call for a strike.

“The politically-tainted NLC, TUC, and NLC President, Joe Ajaero have asked workers to go on strike next Wednesday over the removal of petrol subsidy, despite being privy to the distressing financial figures, which justified why subsidy ought to have been scrapped a long time ago.

“My advice to the perceptive workers and the Nigerian populace is simply to ignore Ajaero and his ilk. He is playing politics and is actually acting the script of the opposition Labour Party, out to destabilise the young Tinubu’s administration.

“Besides, one wonders whose interest Ajaero is championing, when he did not oppose the position of his Labour Party and presidential candidate, who campaigned with the promise to scrap subsidy from Day One if elected. NLC and TUC leaders knew since last November that the subsidy will be scrapped from July 1 as no provision has been made in the budget for it, beyond this date.

“The federal government, which already commits 96 per cent of its revenue in servicing debt, is not in any position to continue selling subsidised fuel, most of which is smuggled across our borders for criminal and obscenely unpatriotic profit.

“Subsidy of fuel is no longer unsustainable as the federal government is virtually broke. Apart from its N77 trillion debt, it also owes NNPC Limited about N2.4 trillion for past subsidies. The Nigerian people and workers should support the government as it works out new wages and rolls out other interventions, as promised by President Tinubu, to mitigate the effects of the new fuel price.

“Let’s not make ourselves pawns in the hands of the politically biased and tainted NLC and TUC. Ajaero is no longer a labour leader. He is a politician and leader of the Labour Party. He is no more representing all the Nigerian workers,” Onanuga said in a statement posted on Twitter.