NLC Pulls Out Of Fuel Subsidy Committees, Urges Nigerians To Reject FG Palliatives

By Ayodele Oni

Nigeria Labour Congress has resolved to pull out of the various committees on fuel subsidy palliatives. It has, also, rejected any further increase of the product.

This was contained in a release  signed by NLC President, Joe Ajaero and titled: “The Proposed Palliatives, Cash Transfers, Robs The Poor And Pays The Rich: We Reject It.”

It pointed out that the Labour movement insisted that “it has restrained itself and allowed to be in some palliatives committees, to avoid any misinterpretation from the new government in power, but it appears workers patience are being taken for granted.

“It is important to inform Nigerians that despite having shown our readiness to commence work in the Committees, the federal government which convenes the meetings is yet to inaugurate the National Steering Committee thus stalling the Work of the Proposed Committees.

“If the Government had wanted an expedited action which Nigerians want more, the best approach would have been to quickly inaugurate the Committees and allow them do their work but as we write, nothing has been done except the continuation of the borrowing spree and subsequent allocation to themselves.”

The NLC explained that since June 19, 2023, when it was agreed to set up Committees with a National Steering Committee, Government is yet to make any move to inaugurate the committees, but news flying around of further hike in pump price.

“The NLC warns that the current government must watch clearly and observe that the impunity displayed by the immediate past government, is not allowed to rare its ugly head, and that the workers are fully ready to stop any anti-people policy.”

On the proposed N8000 palliatives to 12 million families, the Labour movement says it stands rejected as it is another charade of the Nigerian ruling class to deceive the poor masses.

Labour argues that it does not have confidence on how the data of the 12 million poor family was arrived at, calling on Nigerians to reject it as it is most likely to go the way of the homegrown school feeding programme and the covid-19 palliative, which were more or less conduit pipes for corruption.

“The federal government has insisted on threading the path of dictatorship and seeking to impoverish the people further by taking steps that can only be described as robbing the people of Nigeria to pay and feed the Rich.

“It is on this basis that the NLC strongly condemns the decision of the Tinubu led administration to seek the approval of the National Assembly to obtain another

tranche of external loans worth N500b from the World Bank for the purposes of carrying out a phantom palliative measure to cushion the effect of its poorly

thought-out hike in the prices of Premium Motor Spirit.

“Remember that the U$800m

which was already proposed before the devaluation of the Naira by this government was worth about N400b then but is now worth about N650b after devaluation.

“It is from this, it proposes to bring out N500b for distribution.

The proposal to pay N8,000 to each of the so-called 12 million poorest Nigerian households for a period of six months insults our collective intelligence and makes a mockery of our patience and abiding faith in social dialogue which the government may have alluded to albeit pretentiously.

“The further proposal to pay National Assembly members the sum of N70b and the Judiciary N36b is the most insensitive, reckless and brazen diversion of our collective patrimony into the pockets of public officers whose sworn responsibility it is to protect our nation’s treasury.

“We believe that this may amount to hush money and outright bribery of the other arms of government to acquiesce the aberration.

“It is unconscionable that a government that has foisted so much hardship on the

people within nearly two months of coming into office will make a proposal that clearly rewards the rich in public office to the detriment of the poor.

“What this means all this while is that the government is seeking ways of robbing the very

poor Nigerians so that the rich can become richer.

“There is no other way to explain

the proposal to pay a misery sum of N8,000 Naira to each of the mysterious poorest 12 million Households for six months which amounts to N48,000 and pay just 469 National Legislators N70b or about N149m each, while the Judiciary that has about 72 Appeal Court Judges, 33 National Industrial Court Judges, 75 Federal High Court Judges and 21 Supreme Court Judges and a total of about 201 Judges receives a total of N35b or N174m each.

“If these other two arms are projected to receive this, what members of the Executive Council will receive is better left to the imagination of Nigerians perhaps, the balance N150b will go to them.

“These proposals are not just unacceptable to Nigerian workers but are also dictatorial thus undemocratic. It is not a product of social dialogue which would have produced collectively negotiated outcomes by critical national stakeholders.”