Labour Cautions FG On Petrol Subsidy Removal

The organised labour has cautioned the federal government against petrol subsidy removal, vowing to resist the move if it is not carried along.

The President and the Secretary-General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo and Abba Toro, respectively, gave the caution in separate chats with Daily Trust on Thursday.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had, a fortnight ago during a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the Voice of Nigerian in Abuja, disclosed that petrol subsidy would be removed before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure on May 29.

She had attributed the delay in the subsidy removal, as provided for in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, to the 2023 general elections and the national population census.

The Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, had, after the Federal Executive Council meeting held on March 15, said no conclusion had been reached on how to lessen the likely impacts of the proposed petrol subsidy removal on citizens.

He said though a committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had been working for about a year, nothing definite had been agreed upon.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, had on Tuesday said the government would hand over the implementation of petrol subsidy removal’s palliative measures to the incoming administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

But labour officials described the plan by the Buhari-led administration to remove the subsidy before it leaves on May 29, and leave the chaos that will follow to the in-coming administration as not fair. They said citing the PIA as basis for removing the subsidy does not hold water because there is no law made by man that is cast in stone.

The TUC president, Osifo, said there must be discussions between the organised labour and the government (whether outgoing or incoming) before removal of subsidy.

“Well, anybody can make pronouncements on removal of subsidies in his or her kitchen, what I know is that we can’t even talk about palliatives now when we have not sat on a round table to discuss the main issue.

“As of now, no discussion is ongoing regarding that. Whatever the government wants to do on that, labour is a critical stakeholder that must be carried along.

“We will sit together, discuss, solve grey areas and find a common ground,” Osifo told one of our correspondents in his Abuja office.

On his part, Toro noted that it is necessary to carry the labour movement along before removing petrol subsidy.

He said, “That is what we call social dialogue. Everything will be back to square one if the government removes subsidies without carrying labour along.”

When reminded that the PIA law signed by President Buhari stated that subsidy removal must not exceed June, Toro said “laws were not cast in the iron”.

“Like the president alluded to, it is a function of social dialogue, and they cannot push out a policy through our throats without consultation, if they don’t consult, we will automatically confront them if it affects us directly. There is no way we will allow that.

“Laws are written by human beings, and it is to govern human beings, so, those laws are not cast in the irons. Because they are laws, and they are not favourable to the survival of the people, should we keep quiet? No! That’s why we have the parliament.”