The Nigeria Labour Congress has raised critical concerns about what it termed betrayal by the federal government following an erroneous fuel hike. President Joe Ajaero highlighted the agreement ratified by the government and the NLC due to the dwindling economic status of the Nigerian population.
The Nigerian National Oil Company Limited (NNOCL) raised the pump price from N617 to N897 per liter.
He said that the government hasn’t shown goodwill in implementing the national minimum wage of N70,000, which was the agreed terms, for not increasing the fuel prices.
“One of the reasons for accepting N70,000 as the national minimum wage was the understanding that the pump price of pms would not be increased, even as we know that N70,000 was not sufficient,” he stated.
President Ajaero also said that they settled for the agreed national minimum wage after Bola Tinubu gave them alternatives, which would have exacerbated the already-biting economy on Nigerians.
“We recall vividly when Mr. President gave us the devi’s alternatives to choose from: either N250,000 as minimum wage (subject to the rise of the pump price between N1, 500 and N2, 00 and N70, 000 (at old pms rates), we opted for the latter because we could not bring ourselves to accept further punishment on Nigerians,” he said.
The NLC also decried the hiked tariff rates, which have remained a haulmark on Nigerians and their businesses. The tariff rates had been hiked to 250%, and when the Congress sought out the lawmakers’ intervention, they were assured that all was well and there was further need to engage the Minister for power.
He also called for the government to stop arresting, detaining and charging Nigerians with dubious allegations over the previous protests, dubbed #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria, which was subject to biting market policies.
“Rather than make amends, the government arrested and hounded into detention some of those who took part and some of those who had nothing to do with these protests, charging them with criminal conspiracy, subversion, treasonable, felony, terrorism financing, and cybercrime with an intent to overthrow the government of President Tinubu,” he said.
In early August, Nigerians went on 10-day street protests, dubbing it ten days of rage and #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria over the degrading economic conditions in the country. The protests were met with fervor from the police officers, who killed and arrested many protesters.
Ten Nigerian activists who were detained over allegedly fueling protests in the country were charged with treason. They denied the charges, and the court is set to make a ruling on September 11, 2024.
The Nigerian Labour Congress has demanded an immediate reversal of the fuel and tariff hike, release of all the persecuted persons, halt of the arrest and detention of citizens, end of bad policies, and the government’s fearmongering behavior.
