As NLC, TUC suspend notified strike action
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, HE Peter Obi has said that his support for the removal of subsidy paid on petroleum products is true but with a condition that should be empirical to the people.
Obi who was ambushed by judicial correspondents as he attended his ongoing election petition case at the Court of Appeal headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, said that his support for subsidy removal dates back to the Goodluck Jonathan era when he was a member of the Presidential Economic Management Team.
“If you have followed me very well right from the time I was a member of Jonathan’s economic management team, I consistently maintained that subsidy should be removed because I see it as organized crime.
People were just stealing the resources of the country and I showed empirically in my statistical analysis that we are not consuming the amount of fuel they claim we consume.”
The former Anambra State governor differentiated his idea of subsidy removal from what is happening in the country now that they are linking him to the two options available to a person having a toothache.
He said, “if you approach a dentist to remove a painful tooth, he will apply a local anesthetic to numb the area around the tooth so you do not feel pain. It’s not the same thing as pulling the tooth forcefully, the pain you feel will be different.
“For me, I will go with the approach of the dentist while supporting the removal of the tooth because I wouldn’t want to go through the pain of forceful removal.
“Recall that even when Jonathan wanted to remove it, they came up with various relieving policies like Sure-P and others.
“If you read my manifesto, you will see clearly how I planned to remove subsidy, I will govern with the people and show them statistically and empirically what we are getting and how we are deploying it.
“The problem in Nigeria is that when people say let’s go and suffer, let’s go and sacrifice, they don’t see the results of their suffering and their sacrifice,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has suspended the planned strike to commence on Wednesday over the removal of the petrol subsidy.
The resolution was announced by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and confirmed by the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, after a six-hour meeting between the Federal Government and the organized labour at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
At the meeting, a 7-point resolution was reached on the issues surrounding the removal of subsidy on petrol.
Other key resolutions include establishing a joint committee comprising the Federal Government, and organised labour to review proposals for wage increase upward.
Additionally, the World Bank financed cash transfer scheme will be reviewed, with a focus on proposing the inclusion of low-income earners in the program.
The parties are to reconvene on June 19, 2023, to agree on an implementation framework.
Also the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, demanded payment of a new minimum wage of N200,000 monthly.
It also demanded that the government reverted to the old N185 pump price of petrol per litre to allow for a conducive environment for negotiation.
In a statement the President and Secretary General, Festus Osifo and Nuhu Toro, respectively, TUC said: “For immediate implementation: Status quo ante of PMS pump price should be maintained while discussion continues.
The minimum wage should be increased from the current N30,000 to N200,000 before the end of June 2023, with consequential adjustments on the cost of living allowance, COLA, like feeding, transport, housing, etc.
“A representative of state governors will be party to this communiqué and all the governors must commit to implement the new minimum wage.
“Tax holiday for employees both in government and private sector that earn less than N200,000 or 500USD monthly whichever is higher. PMS allowance to be introduced for those earning between N200,000 and N500,000 or 500USD to 1,200USD whichever is higher.
“The exchange rate for retailing PMS in the country must be kept within a limit of two per cent for the next 10 years where the fluctuation is more than two per cent, the minimum wage will automatically increase at the same rate.
“Setting up of intervention fund where the government will be paying N10 per litre on all locally consumed PMS.
The primary purpose of this fund is to solve perennial and protracted national issues in education, health and housing. A governance structure that will include labour, civil society and government will be put in place to manage the implementation.
“Federal government should provide mass transit vehicles for all categories of the populace. State governments should immediately set up a subsidized transportation system to reduce the pressure on workers and students. The framework around this will be worked out.
“Immediate review of the National Health Insurance Scheme to cover more Nigerians and prevent stock of drugs.
“Visitation of the refineries that are currently undergoing rehabilitation to ascertain the state of work and setting up a timeline for its completion.
“The president should direct whoever will be labour minister to immediately constitute the National Labour Advisory Council, NLAC.
This platform will be used by the government, labour and employers to discuss issues and policies of the government that may affect workers and all other mandates as specified in the law.
“Provision of subsidy directly for food items, the $800million could be a first step.
The existing National Housing Fund, NHF, should be made accessible to genuine workers; the framework on this must be discussed and agreed.”
TUC also said the medium term would include the “deployment of Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, across the country, in line with the earlier promise made by the government.
The framework and timeline will be developed and agreed by both parties.
“Labour and government to design a framework that will be geared towards the reduction of cost of governance by 15 per cent in 2024 and 30 per cent by 2025.
“A framework should be immediately put in place to maintain roads and expand the rail networks across the country. Government must design a framework for social housing policy for workers through a rent-to-own system.
“The state of electricity in the country must be appraised and an action plan should be defined with timelines on how to get this fixed.”