The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to reverse the hikes in the fuel pump price and electricity tariff or face civil unrest nationwide.
The union issued the warning at its Central Working Committee meeting on Wednesday, September 16, 2020.
The NLC and its affiliate members maintained that failure to heed their demands would leave them with no option than to paralyse every sector by embarking on an indefinite strike as well as mobilising its members nationwide for a protest after the September 28 deadline.
Comrade Ayuba Wabba, the NLC President, in a communiqué read to journalists after the Central Working Committee meeting, which held in Abuja that lasted several hours, argued that the hike has rendered the new minimum wage of N30,000 worthless owing to rising inflation across the country.
“The National Administrative Council as well as the Central Working Committee of the NLC has just ended its meeting.
“The meeting was convened to look at the twin issue of the hike in electricity tariff and also the fuel price increase.
“The CWC has noted that these twins increase despite the fact that is ill-timed because of COVID-19 is also bad because of the socio-economic situation of the country,” Wabba said.
He added, “The CWC also identified the fact that the policy has reduced the purchasing power of Nigerians as well as Nigerian workers.
“Also, it has brought about the high cost of goods and services, and importantly, has eroded completely the gains of the N30, 000 minimum wage.
“The CWC also looked at the report of the meeting that took place between the federal government and organised labour where NLC was represented by 14 of its leaders and therefore resolved as follows:
“The CWS resolved to issue a 2-week (11 days from Wednesday) ultimatum to the federal government to reverse or face industrial action and peaceful assembly.
“In furtherance to this, CWC resolved also to convey a meeting of National Executive Council in line with our constitution on the 22nd of September, 2020 to give effect to this decision because the proposal for the action is to commence on Monday, September 28, 2020, if those issues are not addressed.
“NLC Central Working Committee also will mobilise its members, our civil society allies and other social partners to try to resist this policy because it has driven many into poverty.”
The unionist lamented the sorry state of affairs in the country, adding that there were instances where the cost of electricity had been established to be more than the minimum wage.
According to him, “This afternoon, CWC members were sharing their experiences arising from the exploitative nature of these policies where it is very evident that in some cases, even the N30, 000 minimum wage cannot even pay for the electricity bill.
“In fact, the experience we have here is that somebody loaded a credit of N30, 000 but it didn’t take him up to two weeks.
“This has been the experience all over the country.
“So, it is a decision that is biting at every worker, every family and I think it is a decision that certainly requires reversal.”
