NLC Debunks Strike Action, Unveils Position Today after Consultations

Amid citizens’ agony of Wednesday’s shocking removal of petrol subsidy, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) will today articulate its position on the policy and take-off of the petroleum liberalisation policy of the Federal Government. This is coming after Labour’s meeting with the government on Wednesday night ended in a stalemate.

However, to douse apprehension, NLC debunks purported plans to embark on strike today over withdrawal of fuel subsidy. Head of Information and Public Affairs at NLC, Benson Upah, urged members of the public to disregard stories that it would call workers out on strike from June 2 as the stories did not emanate from the Congress.

“Our attention has been drawn to stories circulating in the social media claiming that the NLC would begin protest action on June 2 against the increase in the pump price of petrol. As much as we are outraged by this mindless price increase, which is intended to bring untold hardship to Nigerians, we have no plan to start any action on June 2. What we do have for now are organ meetings slated for June 2 to deliberate on the price issue,’’ he stated.

The national umbrella body of Nigerian workers has summoned its Central Working Committee (CWC) and National Executive Council (NEC) to deliberate on the next line of action.

It was gathered that the CWC meeting will take place first in the morning while the NEC will sit later after that. The NEC is expected to ratify the decision of the CWC.

The meeting with the Federal Government, which was deadlocked on Wednesday night, will resume on Sunday, June 4, at the Aso Rock Villa. It was gathered that today’s meeting may either sanction an immediate strike or give fresh conditions that must be met in the Sunday meeting with the additional mandate of declaring strike immediately without a recourse back to the organs.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) told The Guardian that it will no longer fix prices or release templates for petrol prices. The Authority Chief Executive (ACE), Farouk Ahmed, explained that under the liberalised market, market forces will dictate prices.

Under the new deal, Ahmed said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited’s (NNPCL) role is to fix prices of the petrol it imported and not take over the responsibilities of the Authority.

“In the case of the NNPC, the organisation is the sole importer at this point. We told the NNPC to recover its costs because they know how much it cost them to import the product and sell it. Of course, we also know how much shipping, offshore, ex-depot and ex-pump are. But we cannot tell them to sell at a price because the market is deregulated,” he said.

The NMDPRA chief also revealed that the Federal Government has officially scrapped petroleum equalisation as well as the national transport allowance.