NLC President, Mr Ayuba Wabba
NLC fixes 2022 dates for nationwide rallies over planned petrol subsidy removal by FG
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has fixes dates for nationwide protests across the country in the event of the Federal Government’s planned removal of petrol subsidy.
This was part of the resolutions reached at the NLC’s National Executive Council meeting, which held at the Labour House, Abuja, on Friday.
The congress also said the planned rallies would commence without warning should the FG announce new fuel prices next year, as it further disclosed that it would stage a protest across the 36 states of the federation on January 27, 2022, which would culminate in the submission of protest letters to all the state governors.
NLC said this would be followed on February 1 with another nationwide protest that will also hold in Abuja.
The planned action by the organized labour group follows plans by the Federal Government to remove subsidy in petrol by the second quarter of next year on the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank.
According to Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, about 40 million poor Nigerians would be paid a N5,000 monthly stipend for transportation as an palliative measure.
However, rising from its NEC meeting, the NLC argued that subsidy removal would expose Nigerian workers and the generality of the citizenry to acute deprivation, hardship and suffering as it would worsen the already established trend of hyperinflation in the country.
The union submitted that the price of petrol and other refined petroleum products would continue to rise beyond the reach of average Nigerian workers and citizens as long as the pricing of refined petroleum products was based on importation pricing template, which is heavily dependent on a volatile foreign exchange rate heavily skewed against the naira.
A communiqué signed by the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba and General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, read in part: “The NEC, therefore, resolved to reject and resist the planned increase in the pump price of petrol by the Federal Government as it described it as extremely insensitive to the acute hardship being experienced by Nigerian workers and people.
