By Israel Onwudiwe (Energy Correspondent)
From Sunday, September 28, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) may embark on a nationwide industrial strike action to compel the Federal Government to reverse the recent increases in prices of fuel pump and electricity tariff.
The proposed action has been approved by the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) after its meeting a few days ago. NEC at the meeting held in Abuja, called on the Federal Government to urgently make refineries in the country functional, adding that the timing of the increment was wrong. NLC National President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, warned that failure by government to meet the demands would compel workers to go ahead with the planned protest on Sunday.
The NLC had on Wednesday last week, after the meeting of the State Working Council, (SWC), threatened to shut down the nation's economy if the federal government refused to reverse the recent hike before September 28.
The threat came after the Trade Union Congress (TUC), had given a seven-day ultimatum to the government to revert to the old prices of petroleum pump price and the electricity tariff.
NARTO Rescinds Planned Protest
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, (NARTO), comprising truck and tanker owners, across the country has directed its members to resume operations. NARTO said the decision was taken after Federal Government has agreed to shift the implementation of the ban on trucks with 45,000-litre capacity to January 1, 2020. While addressing newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, the National President of NARTO, Alhaji Yusuf Othman, said that the decision to discontinue the withdrawal of their trucks nationwide was followed by the intervention of the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS).
On Monday, NARTO had issued notice of strike to press home its grievances, which include the ban on the use of 45,000-litre capacity trucks for the lifting of petroleum products across the country. NNL.
