The stage is set for a showdown with the Federal Government over its planned increase in the prices of petroleum products, as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and civil society groups have started mobilising for protest.
Oil workers and civil servants have also vowed to join the organised labour.
The NLC and TUC have set aside Wednesday, April 10 for a nationwide mass protest. The Labour centres claimed to be alarmed by the government’s uncaring attitude to pensioners. They lamented that even after it had been established that the custodian of pension funds stole huge amount of the money, he was given a light punishment and option of meagre fine.
TUC President-General, Peter Esele, said the decision for mass protest was taken at the Congress’ National Executive Council meeting.
In separate telephone conversations with The Nation, oil workers under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) called for
the Finance Minister’s resignation, saying that is the only way out of the subsidy crisis.
NUPENG President, Comrade Igwe Achese, said the Minister has failed the nation as she has told Nigerians contradicting stories on subsidy. She should, therefore, resign if things must be done properly, he stressed.
He recalled that the Finance Minister last year claimed that N1.2 trillion had fraudulently gone into subsidy, stressing that the government will continue to pay subsidy until all the nation’s refineries are repaired and made to work at optimal capacity, and all the depots rehabilitated.
The senior civil servants under the umbrella of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) said they would resist a new increase in petroleum products prices with “everything humanly possible”
The Secretary-General, Comrade Bashir Alade Lawal, said: “We are preparing to meet the government for upward review of salaries, now that they are proposing fuel price increase, it’s like they are telling the workers to go and commit suicide. We are not going to accept that.”
Senior oil workers under the aegis of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) also condemned the proposed increase in fuel price. PENGASSAN President, Comrade Babatunde Ogun, said: “It is not possible for government to increase fuel price now. There are many unanswered questions, ranging from subsidy claims, refineries, Petroleum Industry Bill and other conditions in our laws. Government need further engagement of all stakeholders on the project.”
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