Victor Ezeja
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have resolved to suspend the planned nationwide indefinite strike for 30 days.
This was confirmed in a statement jointly signed by representatives of organised labour and the Federal Government. They are: NLC President, Joe Ajaero; Emmanuel Ugboaja, NLC Secretary General; Festus Osifo, TUC President; Nuhu Toro, TUC Secretary General.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe statement said leaders of the NLC and TUC accepted to suspend for 30 days, the planned indefinite nationwide strike scheduled to begin, Tuesday, the 3rd of October, 2023.
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The Federal Government was represented by Simon Lalong, Minister of Labour and Employment; Hon. Dr Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Minister of State for Labour and Employment; and Mallam Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation.
The nationwide strike which was announced by the labour unions last week Tuesday, was billed to commence 12 mid-night of October 3. Labour’s decision to embark on strike was to press home their demands for the Federal Government to take necessary steps in adopting measures to cushion the effects of petrol subsidy that led to increase in pump price of petrol across the country.
The decision to shelve the industrial action for 30 days followed a crucial emergency meeting between the government and representatives of labour unions on Monday, October 2. At previous meeting held on Sunday, October 1, the Federal Government had agreed to pay an additional N25,000 per month for three months starting from October, 2023, to 15 million households, including vulnerable pensioners.
Other resolutions reached in the meeting include rolling out N100 billion for the provision of high capacity Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses for mass transit in Nigeria, with an initial plan of providing 55,000 CNG conversion kits to kick start an auto gas conversion programme, whilst work is ongoing on state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide. “The rollout aims to commence by November with pilots across 10 campuses nationwide,” the statement said.
The government also agreed to “implement various tax incentive measures for private sector and the general public. The Federal Government also agreed to suspend the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Diesel for six months beginning from October, 2023.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
