Fuel subsidy: TUC asks FG to revert to status quo

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has told the Federal Government to revert to the status quo over its decision to remove fuel subsidy.

TUC President, Mr Festus Osifo, while speaking to newsmen at the end of an emergency meeting of the congress’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Friday in Abuja, said that TUC is unhappy with the unilateral decision of the Federal Government to remove the subsidy, adding that the TUC’s expectation was that the government should have engaged Organised labour.

He said, “Having noted this, we wish to state that the NEC-in- session resolved that discussions with Federal Government should continue while demanding that the government should revert to the status quo ante.

“The status quo ante should be maintained while discussions continue as we had a meeting with the government on Wednesday.

“During that discussion, they gave us a list of all the things they would do and they also demanded to know our thinking and what we are putting up.

“We told them the lists of the things we want to put forward, we will not submit them now but put them forward to our organs, to discuss and seek a mandate from them of the things we can put forward,’ ‘he said.

According to Osifo, it is how the government reacts to TUC’s demands that will determine the union’s next line of action.

“We will wait till Sunday when we will meet with the representatives of the government.

“Once we are done with that meeting then the TUC is going to put its demands forward, it is how they react to those demands that will determine our next line of action, ”he said.

Fuel subsidy: NLC to embark on nationwide strike Wednesday

The Informant247 had reported that the Nigeria Labour Congess (NLC) had declared a nationwide strike starting from next Wednesday.

The Labour unions’ decision was followed by the fuel shortages across the country occasioned by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inaugural speech in which he declared that “fuel subsidy is gone”.

Joe Ajaero, the NLC President while announcing this after an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) in Abuja, said the government, particularly the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited had up until Wednesday next week to revert to the old price petrol, adding that failure of the Federal Government to meet the ultimatum would attract an indefinite protest across the country.

It could be recalled that President Tinubu on Monday during his inaugural speech at the Eagle Square in Abuja, declared that the era of subsidy payment on fuel has ended, saying with the 2023 budget making no provision for fuel subsidy, further payment was no longer justifiable.

“The fuel subsidy is gone,” Tinubu said. His government would instead channel funds into infrastructure and other areas to strengthen the economy, he added.

Meanwhile, the president’s pronouncement has led to an instant resurgence of fuel queues across the country with Nigerians foraging for the premium product.

Though Tinubu’s decision received backing from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and House of Representatives, it has since been resisted by the NLC and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC).

Accoring to the organised labour, the President cannot unilaterally take a decision on subsidy removal.

TUC President, Festus Osifo, also argued that there was a reason the immediate past administration of Muhammadu Buhari pushed the “sensitive issue” to the new government.

It could be recalled that on Wednesday, an hours-long meeting between the Federal Government and the NLC on the matter ended without a consensus.

The Federal Government representatives included Dele Alake, the spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu; and the Group CEO of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele; and former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

On the organised labour’s side, the NLC National President, Joe Ajaero; and the President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Festus Osifo, were present.

The NLC demanded that the Federal Government return to status quo by reversing the price of fuel before resuming negotiations with labour while it insisted that the Federal Government did not enter into any conversation even on palliative measures for Nigerians before the decision