Labour vows to go on with planned protest

Despite the meeting of the Presidential Steering Committee on Palliatives on Monday, the Organised Labour said it is proceeding with its plans to lead nationwide protests from Wednesday.

President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, while speaking with journalists after the Monday meeting of the steering committee, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the plan for workers to proceed on a peaceful protest from Wednesday has not changed.

The meeting adjourned till Tuesday noon to continue discussions on ways to ameliorate the harsh effects of the removal of fuel subsidy.

The adjournment was to allow all parties the time to listen to the President Bola Tinubu’s broadcast.

Speaking on the planned protest, Ajaero dismissed fears that the protest could be hijacked by hoodlums, saying that such had never happened in the history of workers protest.

However, he said it is the responsibility of security agencies to protect protesting workers

Reacting to the President’s plan to intervene on exchange rate over inflation and high cost of gasoline prices, Ajaero said “by the time you have a single market and you are not having anything that has a comparative advantage, your energy is import driven, then how are you going to control it? How are you going to control somebody that exchanged dollar at about 900 (naira)? Are you going to tell him to sell below the price?

“How are you going to tell even NEPA today, with the cost of production not to increase tariff? Even corn in the villages that was sold at N18,000 by February, now it’s about 56,000. How are you going to control it?”

But Chief of Staff to the President, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, said that issues were trashed at the closed door meeting.

He also said that the government was dealing with the oil cabals that have brought the economy to its knees.

“We have been locked behind for a couple of hours, we had a good meeting, issues were thrashed out on the situation in Nigeria today in terms of issues centred around on government intervention on the situation in the country.

“We agreed to adjourn till 12pm tomorrow before labour can decide whether or not they want to continue with the protest on Wednesday.