Labour Cautioned Against Protest as FG Suspends Fuel Subsidy Removal
NLC President
By Our Reporter
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have been cautioned against going ahead with their planned protest against the removal of fuel subsidy.
The Concerned Citizens Project (CCP) Nigeria in a statement said there was no need for labour to embark on the action since the federal government has taken a decision suspending the fuel subsidy removal.
National Coordinator, Dr. Bello Musa Gwani, and National Secretary, Sylvester Koni said any protest now with the federal government position on the issue would be misguided.
The group said protests as witnessed in the past have always been disastrous to the economy as commercial activities in the country would be affected.
According to the statement, “The intended strike and protest will put a halt on the operations of government offices, banks, shopping centres and schools, transportation workers and will also significantly affect the informal sectors including markets and local transportation services.
“This will cause an untold hardship on Nigerians and have significant damaging effect on an already struggling economy. Paralysing the country of more than 200 million people, majority of the citizens live on daily wage, will be highly irrational.”
The federal government had on Monday said it has suspended the plan to remove the fuel subsidy. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed and the Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva disclosed this to the members of the National Assembly during a stakeholders meeting in Abuja.
Sylva said President Muhammadu Buhari was against fuel subsidy removal.
Sylva also in a TV interview last night said, “I will tell you categorically that at this moment, the complete removal of subsidy is not in our plate at all. The president is not in support of removing subsidy at this time. So, we are working out other processes.
“We all know that it is a desirable policy direction, but we also know that it will have some impact on the people and until some details are worked out with labour and other stakeholders, we will not remove subsidy. At this time, I can tell you that it is not in our plate at all.”
During the stakeholders meeting, the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, had appealed to the labour unions to cancel the planned protests.
In readiness for the protest, the NLC on Monday mobilized its members nationwide for a protest on Thursday.
The protest was scheduled as a strong move against fuel subsidy removal.
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