Nigeria’s Govt. Bows to Pressure, Reverses Electricity Tariffs as Labour Unions Suspend Planned Strike

Abel Ejikeme

The Nigerian government has reached an agreement with the country’s organised labour that will see the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and her affiliates suspend a planned industrial action for two weeks.

Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo announce this on his verified twitter handle at about 3.00 am Monday.

Part of the agreement reached between the federal government and organised labour is the suspension of electricity tariffs for two weeks with a joint technical committee comprising ministries, departments, agencies, NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to examine the justification for the new policy.

On the deregulation of the downstream sector, both parties agreed that the move should be sustained, and the urgent need to increase the country’s local refining capacity and reduce the overdependence of Nigeria on imported petroleum products.

Both government and organised labour agreed that to make this possible, there is also the need for the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to expedite the rehabilitation of the country’s four refineries.

In a communique signed by both parties, the federal government agreed to unveil a specific amount in the next two weeks to cushion the impact of the downstream sector deregulation.

The amount will be derived from the Economic Sustainability Programme Intervention Fund and be accessed by Nigerian workers. It was also agreed to remove tax on minimum wage.

The federal government team was headed by the secretary to the government of the federation, Boss Mustapha and minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, while the organised labour was led by President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba and President of the Trade Union Congress, Quadri Olaleye.