The Federal Government has alleged that the sorry state of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries is attributable to the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC. It said that but for the stand of the two Labour Unions, the two refineries could have been working and Nigeria saved the billions of Naira wasted on Turn Around Maintenances and, perhaps, a permanent stop on perennial scarcity of petrol.
The Government made this allegation in its response to the allegations against it by Labour Leaders in the United Kingdom.
Joe Ajaero, the President of the NLC, was arrested on Monday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by the Department of State Services, DSS. He was on his way to an official assignment where he was to represent Nigeria’s Organized Labour at an event organised by the Trade Union Congress, United Kingdom.
His arrest, which put a stop to his trip triggered outrage in many quarters and was slammed at the TUC event in the UK which accused the Nigerian Government of gross human rights abuses.
But in a strongly worded statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, Presidential Adviser, in response to the allegations of human rights abuses against the FG, the Presidency noted that not only is Ajaero not above the law, both the NLC and the TUC, were stumbling blocks to a couple of steps which could have helped Nigeria’s economy and so the masses.
The FG specifically pointed out how the NLC and TUC stopped the Federal Government from selling the Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries to businessmen and serial entrepreneurs, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola. The Billionaire-friends made moves and, almost, bought both refineries but it was aborted, according to the Presidency, because of the protest by NLC and TUC.
The statement pointed out the irony in the Organized Labour congratulating Dangote on the completion of his refinery in Lekki when it stopped him and Otedola from buying the PH and Warri Refineries.
Onanuga: “It is worth reminding Nigerians and the Global Community that the Federal Government recognises that the Labour Movement exists to protect and defend the interests of its members.
“What is, also, worth noting is that Labour, in most cases, only advances ideological positions that fly in the face of economic realities.
“Many ideological stances of the Labour Unions in Nigeria in the past have only stunted the economic growth and development of the country and even compromised the material well-being of the Workers and the poor people they protect.
“A case in point was the strong opposition of the NLC and TUC to the sale of Port-Harcourt and Kaduna Refineries to Bluestar Consortium, promoted in 2007 by Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola, during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“Seventeen years after the Labour Movement forced the successor Government of Umar Yar’ Adua to cancel the sale of the two refineries, none of the four Government-owned refineries worked.
“In the obverse, Mr. Aliko Dangote, one of the promoters of Bluestar, has built the largest single-train refinery in the world. In a twist of fate, the same Labour Movement that fiercely opposed Dangote from taking over the two refineries in 2007 hailed him on completing his 650,000-bpd refinery in Lagos.
“The administration of President Tinubu will continue to promote the best economic interest of Nigerians despite the current challenges. It will also continue to pursue policies and programmes that will expand national economic output and create prosperity for our citizens.”
Ajaero was in the custody of the DSS for 15 hours on arrest on Monday. He was released about one hour short of the 12.00 midnight deadline given by Labour for his release.
His international passport was, however, seized.
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