NLC Suspends Planned Nationwide Strike Over Naira Scarcity

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have suspended their planned strike scheduled to commence on Wednesday over the scarcity of naira notes.

The labour unions made this known at the end of their National Executive Council meeting on Tuesday.

Recall that the labour unions had threatened to embark on a nationwide from Wednesday, March 29, 2023 if issues like the cash crunch, fuel scarcity and electricity tariff increase are not addressed by the government.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero said after receiving briefings from its state councils in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, the NLC decided to put on hold the planned stay-at-home directive issued to workers last week.

He said the NLC would resume the planned protest if naira notes become unavailable to Nigerians by the end of two weeks.

On Monday, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, met with the leadership of the Congress in a last-minute attempt to avert the impending strike.

At the meeting, Emefiele said steps have been taken to alleviate the sufferings of the masses in relation to the the naira crunch in the country.

The apex bank chief said a large volume of funds was made available to the deposit money banks and they were directed to open their branches on Saturdays and Sundays and they complied under strict supervision by the CBN.