Justice Olufunke Anuwe of the National Industrial Court (NIC) has put a spanner in the works of the planned strike action of the Nigeria Labour Congress, stopping it; and adjourning until 19th June.
And also, following a meeting between the NLC itself and Speaker of the House of Representatives and incoming Chief of Staff to President Tinubu, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, at the Presidential Villa, the labour body confirmed that it has shelved its nationwide strike planned for Wednesday.
At Monday’s meeting which held into the night, the parties agreed: “The NLC to suspend notice of strike forthwith to enable further consultations.
“The TUC and the NLC to continue ongoing engagements with the Federal Government and secure closure on the resolutions.
“The labour centres and the Federal Government to meet on June 19, 2023, to agree on an implementation framework.”
Below are details of the signed resolution:
Justice Anuwe’s ruling and NLC’s position come as the Kwara State Government reduced to three days the five working days of public servants there over the 300% increase in the cost of petrol, for which NLC called a strike action billed for Wednesday.
NLC was angry that President Bola Tinubu, on the day he was sworn in as the 16th President of the country took the infamous withdrawal of fuel subsidy, which effectively took the fuel prices to between N300 and N700 within 48 hours.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) was to later increase the cost per litre of the commodity to between N488 and N555 in its outlets; and since it is the major supplier to other outlets, there was a ripple effect.
Curiously, the 2023 Appropriation Act, a law of the National Assembly, states that subsidy should be withdrawn at the end of June; meaning the Federal government and the agency (NNPCL), where it has majority control, broke its own law, within 24 hours of the ascension of a new administration.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu himself acknowledged, in a tweet, on his verified Twitter handle that subsidy is meant to be withdrawn after the first half 2023 according to the budget law.