Subsidy Removal: We’re Working to Address Issues, FG Appeals to NLC

The federal government has appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC to shelve its planned strike scheduled to start next Wednesday, saying it was doing everything possible to address issues raised by the labour movement on the removal of fuel subsidy.

The appeal came against the backdrop of the strike notice announced by the labour movement giving the federal government a 7-day ultimatum to address what it described as anti-people policies or face industrial action.

Speaking after the Steering Committee meeting on Palliatives, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen pleaded with labour to give the federal government more time to look into its grievances, rather than embark on industrial action.

She explained that the government was yet to roll out palliatives because it did not want to make mistakes, adding that the meeting with organised labour was productive.

However, the labour unions said they would still embark on the planned strike and mass protests should the government fail to meet its demands. Recall that the NLC in a communiqué at the end of its Central Working Committee, CWC, meeting held Tuesday, July 25, at Labour House, Abuja, also demanded the immediate inauguration of the Presidential Steering Committee as agreed in their earlier engagements.