Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has suspended its planned nationwide strike that would have started today, Monday, September 28, in protest against the hike in pump price of fuel and electricity tariff hike
Earlier, there were indications that the Federal Government and NLC might reach an agreement to avert the looming nationwide strike. The Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo(SAN) tweeted that there was hope the industrial crisis might be avoided. He stated on his verified Twitter handle(@fkeyamo): “Still negotiating with labour at exactly 12.34am. Some progress have been made. Concrete proposals on the table from both sides. “Details being worked on by the temporary Secretariat. Gradually moving towards a point of convergence. Let’s hope….”
After exhaustive deliberations on the issues raised by the labour centres, the meeting agreed to suspend the application of the cost-reflective electricity tariff adjustments for two weeks.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, read the five-page communique signed by the representatives of the government and labour.
The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba; and his Trade Union Congress counterpart, Quadri Olaleye, amongst others signed on behalf of Organised Labour while the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige; Minister of State Petroleum, Timipre Silva; Minister of State Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN); Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed; and the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and others, signed on behalf of the government.