…says ‘we cannot guarantee industrial peace’
Indications emerged on Friday that Organised Labour may soon call out workers for yet another round of strike following insinuations that the government was yet to agree on a new National minimum wage with Organised Labour.
The leadership of Organised Labour said they cannot guarantee industrial peace and harmony in the country if the government delayed further the announcement and implementation of the new National minimum wage following the completion of the work of the tripartite committee set up by the President to come up with a new minimum wage for the country.
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba had told newsmen that the federal government will announce a new National minimum wage after a meeting of the National Economic Council, but Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige told the Nation after the Federal Executive Council meeting that the committee was yet to arrive at a particular figure.
Ngige said the government was still negotiating with Organised Labour as the states and federal government as well as Organised Labour and employers were banding different figures which has not been agreed upon.
Sources close to the committee told The Nation that the Minister of Labour himself headed the subcommittee on figures during the negotiations and came up with certain figures which the committee discussed over two days before arriving at a particular figure which is to be communicated to the President.
Apart from the figures, the committee has also drafted a bill which is to be sent to the National Assembly to give the new National minimum wage wage a legal backing.
Contacted, President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) Comrade Bala Bobboi Kaigama said organized labour will not disclose its next line of action for now, but waiting for Chairman of the Tripathite Committee to call them to come and sign the final document which will be submitted to the President.
Kaigama told The Nation on phone that since the committee has concluded it’s work, Nigerians should be patient and await the final document which will made available by the government, pointing out that the statement by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige should not be taken serious by Nigerians.
He said Organised Labour will meet at the appropriate time to take a decision on the way forward, adding that it was rather too early to begin to talk of any formal action.
He said “Like you know, the tripartite committee has concluded its assignment. We are waiting for the Chairperson of the committee and former Head of Service of the Federation, Ms. Ama Pepple to invite them to come and sign a clean copy of the final report which will be submitted to the President.”
In a reaction to the Minister’s claims, Organised Labour had accused the minister of creating unnecessary tension among workers and Nigerians with his statement.
They said “Our attention has been drawn to a statement credited to the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige claiming that no amount has been agreed by the Tripartite Committee recommendation to government. The report further claimed that the Minister said that government was still negotiating with Labour.
“It is rather unfortunate and sad if indeed, the Honourable Minister made those statements. For the avoidance of doubt, organised labour representatives Wish to state unequivocally that the Tripartite Committee concluded is work, adopted a figure through a formal motion moved, seconded and adopted In the absence of any counter motion.
“This was after a thorough debate of a report from the subcommittee figure, chaired by Senator Ngige himself which presented four scenarios for consideration.
“The subcommittee worked on the basis of a figure proposed by the Federal Government, figures proposed by a number of state government, as well as proposals submitted by the Organised Private Sector and Organised Labour.
“The Committee formally adjourned its sitting with a decision that a date will be communicated to members for the signing of the report and submission of same to Mr President.
“Organised Labour, therefore frowns at the manipulation and bending of facts in an attempt to delay or derail the processes needed to promulgate a new National Minimum Wage. We call on the government to take immediate necessary steps to ensure the enactment of a new National Minimum Wage as we cannot guarantee Industrial peace and harmony.”
Tag: Labour
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New Minimum wage: Labour threatens to embark on another strike
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Ekiti salary crisis: NLC, TUC impose 10-year ban on two Labour leaders
…Unions remain dissolved,’ says banned officials
Crisis rocking the Labour movement in Ekiti State deepened on Monday as the state councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress (TUC) imposed a ten-year ban on immediate past chairmen, Mr. Ayodeji Aluko and Mr. Kolawole Olaiya, from trade unionism.
The ten-year ban was imposed on the duo for leading a protest and shutdown of the State Secretariat last Thursday in protest against the arrears of salaries owed workers by the state government.
Acting on the auspices of Ekiti Workers Rescue Team, Aluko, Olaiya and other labour leaders declared an indefinite strike and passed a resolution dissolving NLC and TUC executives led by Mr. Ade Adesanmi and Mr. Odunayo Adesoye respectively.
Rising from an emergency congress held at Labour House, Ado-Ekiti on Monday and attended by affiliate unions, the union leaders insisted that Aluko and Olaiya lacked powers to declare strike and dissolve excos of the unions having finished their terms.
Addressing reporters at the end of the congress, NLC Chairman, Adesanmi, urged security agencies to call Aluko and Olaiya to order accusing the duo of working as agents of destabilization.
Adesanmi said: “The illegal activities of the aforementioned ex-labour leaders acting under the guise of Ekiti Workers Rescue Team came to a climax on Thursday, August 23 when they gathered thugs and molested workers who were carrying out their legitimate and lawful duties.
“There is need to ask them whose interest were they protecting, because they didn’t act when workers were owed over eight month salaries. They have never engaged the government to pay pensioners but they only woke up after the July 14 governorship election.
“Sometimes ago, an administrative panel was set up by the outgoing government of Governor Ayodele Fayose against Comrade Aluko and found him guilty of participating in electioneering in 2015, which was against public service rule. It was the same unions that intervened and ensured that he was pardoned.
“It is no more news that Comrade Aluko was promoted to the position of Director of Administration at the local government ahead of his seniors and the government looked at this and reverted him to the rightful position. It was clear that this ex-labour leader is aggrieved. But must he hide under non-payment of salary to get at the government?
“How could labour leaders gathered thugs and pronounced the entire labour structure dissolved. Were they State Executive Council of the labour unions? The two of them are not members of SEC, where now did they derive such powers.
“With their actions of recent, it is clear that they were only clearing coast for political appointments from the incoming government and not fighting the interest of workers.
“Following these, they are declared persona non grata in labour circle and they are banned from labour activities for a period of ten years”, he said.
Reacting to the ban, Aluko maintained that Adesanmi and Adesoye have been proscribed from acting in their positions by workers, having failed to fight for the rights of those that voted them into their respective offices.
Aluko said Adesoye’s tenure as TUC chairman had lapsed in July, saying he lacked the locus standi to preside over a meeting where any member will be suspended or barred.
He said: “Can any labour leaders who has been described a persona non grata by the entire workforce preside over a meeting and suspend any member?
“Two, is the fact that the two labour leaders (Adesanmi and Adesoye) have lost their values. They are enjoying the support of the government, so they can decide to take illegal actions pending the time another government will ascend the throne.
“But let me say this, workers will send them out of the secretariats by the time this government leaves. TUC Chairman had served out his term, while that of NLC will end in February.
“I want to assure Adesanmi that he will be the first NLC chairman that won’t complete his term in Ekiti. What he is doing is anti-labour and he shall pay dearly for it.”
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Why can’t pay new minimum wage by September – FG
A new national minimum wage will not materialize by the end of September as envisaged, Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has said.
The September date was just a date to conclude negotiation on minimum wage, Ngige said while speaking with journalists in Abuja yesterday.
Outlining the work ahead Ngige said: “The committee on the new National Minimum wage is expected to conclude its work by the end of September and present its report to the government for deliberation and approval.” He also said it would be tabled the National Council of State before an executive bill is sent to the national Assembly on the issue.
He pointed out that the capacity to pay by employers was also paramount in the deliberations on the minimum wage.
He said it was for this reason that the committee embarked on zonal public hearing across the country in order to get the input of all those concerned including state governments and the organised private sector.
It was in the course of the zonal public hearings that many state governments made different submissions ranging from N22, 000 to N58, 000 monthly from the current monthly wage of N18,000.
The governors, he said, were also of the belief that for the new minimum wage to become effective, the current revenue allocation formula will have to be reviewed in favour of the states and local government.
He said some other states are also of the view that the minimum wage should be maintained at the current N18, 000 in view of the inability of some states to pay the current wages.
He said even though it was not an easy task, the committee was making progress in its assigned responsibility, pointing out that it was in order to carry everybody, including the states and private sector along, that six governors were elected to be members of the committee as well as representatives of the organised private sector.
On the threat of non teaching staff of universities to resume their suspended strike as a result of government’s failure to honour the terms of their agreement, the Minister said government was sourcing the N6 billion needed to pay them their earned allowances as contained in the agreement.
He said that about 95 percent of agreements currently being paraded by trade unions in the country were signed before the Buhari government came into office in 2015, adding that most of such agreements had no timeline for implementation.
He also said many of the agreements signed by the last government were not implementable because of the amount involved.
He said what is important in all collective bargaining agreement is the ability to pay what is being demanded and what is agreed upon.
He appealed to striking health workers to return to work while negotiations continue on their demands. He added that the delay in the implementation of their signed agreement was as a result of failure of the National Salaries, Wages and Income Commission to defend the two different figures presented to a government high powered committee.
He said the committee had directed the commission and the Federal Ministry of Health to recompile the figures for onward submission to the committee for deliberation.
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Workers’ welfare: Has labour lost the plot? By Henry Boyo
By Henry Boyo
The Oranised Labour movement celebrated this year’s 2018 May-Day with the traditional processions and fiery speeches from Labour Leaders in various State Capitals, including Abuja.
Labour’s focal demand is for a steep upward reviewed of the present N18,000 Minimum Wage to N56,000/month. On their part, however, the Nigerian Labour Congress, “has decided that our demand is to be paid N66,500 as the new Minimum Wage, no more no less;” according to FCT NLC Chairman, Lawrence Amechi, “the present N18,000 is death wage under the current economic realities.
Furthermore, the Union of Pensioners have also demanded a minimum pension of N40,000/month; while the FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello, also agreed that “indeed, N18,000 which translates to N600/day, clearly puts the Nigerian workers amongst the lowest paid in the world.”
However, if over half of the States cannot fund their present monthly salary obligations, it would be clearly overoptimistic to expect that Labour’s demand will be fully met.
The title “Workers’ Welfare: Has Labour Lost the Plot?” was first published on 20/10/2014; a summary of that paper follows, hereafter, please read on.
“Trade Unions were a critical force in the agitation for Nigeria’s independence from British colonial rule. Regrettably, with the attainment of independence and the later advent of military dictatorship, Labour was deliberately fractionalized by successive governments and compromised, to become a mere shadow without its former awesome authority; indeed since after the failed campaign for the validation of 1993 elections, with the capture and incarceration, without trial, of Frank Kokori, Secretary General of NUPENG, Organised Labour now occasionally, sadly, finds its voice on issues relatingto minimum wage levels and the sustenance of the nationally disenabling economic strategy of subsidising fuel prices with billions of dollars annually.”
“Surprisingly, Labour has inexplicably become mere spectators of unbridled treasury looting, blatant miscarriage of justice and impunity in public administration; consequently, the working class has largely been reduced to wandering flocks of sheep with well nourished but careless shepherds.”
“Nonetheless, the question is how successful is Labour in its pursuit of realistic minimum wages and the sustenance of fuel subsidy. The May-Day speeches of Labour Leaders on Friday, 1st May 2009, for example, were strident on the demand for a reasonable minimum wage; consequently, the Unions demanded that the existing N7,500 ($50) minimum wage be increased to N50,000 ($333)/month. In reality, demands for between 2-20% wage increases are not unusual in better managed economies elsewhere, but a demand for almost 600% wage increase at a go would be unusual, and any agreed minimum wage would generally recognise the adverse impact of inflation on the purchasing power of all income earners.”
“Inspite of an abiding annual inflation average of over 6%, the N7,500 minimum wage subsisted for over 10 years, with the consequent loss of over 60% of its purchasing value, before a higher minimum wage-level of N18,000 was adopted later in 2010. Similarly with average annual inflation rates of over 8% since then, the current minimum wage has also lost over 40% of its purchasing value; consequently, inspite of bountiful Naira supply as well as officially, declared foreign exchange ‘surplus’ in the National Treasury, the lowest paid workers, who constitute the majority of our population have equally become severely impoverished.”
“The plight of workers would obviously be much worse where some states are unable to pay the N18,000 minimum wage or where government owes several months salary arrears; regrettably, there is no overt evidence of Organised Labour’s intervention to speak out or remediate the plight of the ordinary worker in such instances.”
“However, Labour and indeed those Nigerians with a conscience would agree that N50,000 ($400) is probably more appropriate as minimum wage with the severe infrastructural deprivations in our social and economic environment, where a one-room abode in a ‘face me I face you’ apartment may cost as much as N10,000/month. Nonetheless, if some states are incapable of paying N18,000, how does one expect them to pay N50,000; besides, with annual inflation rate still hovering around 8%, over 40% of a N50,000 minimum wage would also be lost to inflation within 5 years without a wage review!”
“Furthermore, experience has taught us from the time of the Udoji Salary Review that such ‘benevolent’ wage increases also drive the rate of inflation rapidly. So if nominal wage increases is not the answer, how then can Labour defend the existing purchasing power of its members if it is inappropriate to advocate for significant wage increments to ameliorate workers’ deprivations?”
“Indeed, if quantum increases could ultimately make the wage earner and the economy worse off, then it is imperative that we consider the relevance of less nominal income actually buying more without fuelling inflation; for example, if N18,000 current minimum wage actually commands a value of about $110 at an exchange rate of N160=$1, the same wage rate would command the purchasing value of $220 if the Naira exchange rate is N80=$1.”
“In other words, the stronger the Naira the more enduring would be the purchasing power of the presently paltry minimum wage and the better it is for the average worker. The question then is how can the value of the Naira be improved against the dollar? We do not advocate that a benign rate be adopted by fiat; all that is required is for the Naira to be given a fair chance to determine its own level without the insistent atavistic intervention by the Central Bank, when it continuously floods the market with fresh Naira values and instigates an embarrassing market surplus to compete against the rationed dollar supplies of the CBN when it substitutes Naira for dollar allocations. But, are the Unions interested in such enduring solutions to the issues of low wages, inflation and workers’ welfare? The answer to this question is out there in the wind!”
“Similarly, a Naira exchange rate of N80=$1 will immediately also abolish any further payment of wasteful fuel subsidies, so that such funds could be more appropriately deployed to remediate our infrastructural deficit so that the masses will enjoy better facilities for education, health, transportation, nutrition, etc.”
“Indeed, Labour leaders know that the economic contradictions, that impoverish Nigerians are instigated by the inexplicable unyielding burden of surplus Naira despite heavy government debt accumulation and an alleged scarcity of funds to grow our economy. Curiously, Labour remained mute even when the immediate past CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi willfully confessed to government’s continuous folly in placing deposits at 0% with banks, only to return thereafter to borrow from the same banks and pay double-digit interest rates for money the Apex Bank intends to keep as idle funds.”
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2019: Labour leaders threaten to mobilise against non-performing public officers
As workers across the globe mark this year’s edition of May Day, labour leaders in Nigeria have threatened to mobilise their members against hostile and non-performing public officers across all levels of governance.
They also said the harsh working environment the Nigerian worker has to endure due to unfavourable government policies and neglect must come to an end.
At an occasion to mark this year’s May Day in Lagos, heads of several workers’ unions lamented the sufferings their members pass through due to the poor state of the economy.
The theme for this year’s May Day rally is ‘Trade Union and the Quest for a Virile Economy: 2019 in Focus.’
“The theme for this year is very apt as it defines the position of every working citizen in this nation,” said Tokunbo Korodo, the Chairman of the Lagos State branch of the United Labour Congress.
“It showcases the report card of government which parades lack of infrastructural development, inadequate supply of power, lack of portable good water, bad housing policy, over taxation, increased price of commodities as workers are appalled and saddened by the seeming collapse of state efficiency and delivery.
“The era of siddon look has passed. We are going to match these politicians word for word, action for action. The no money excuse is no longer tenable because we see what they earn. The situation where workers don’t get paid for their work is over and that is why we are telling workers their power is their PVC to vote out anti labour governments.”
Mr Korodo said Nigeria’s problems began long ago and the inefficiency of the government should not be placed on the workers.
“It is only in this country that you rent out a shopping mall without consideration for where customers will park. If our government don’t have enough wisdom to deal with such issues then it is time for you to rise and vote them out.”
Abdulrasaq Said, General Secretary of Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, said they would resist the concession of Nigerian airports.
“Airport concessions cannot materialise because of security. All areas that have been concessioned turned out bad and we don’t want that in the aviation.”
Gbenga Komolafe, General Secretary of Federation of Informal Workers Organisation of Nigeria, said both the formal and informal sector are under attack.
“The minimum wage is no longer sufficient to take workers home,” Mr Komolafe said.
“We now have public markets being handed over to few private hands and the workers are displaced from their trade villages and clusters and when they try to survive on the street they are hounded saying that they don’t want street hawkers. It is time to take action on all these challenges.”
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Senate Invasion: Labour condemns attack; says democracy at risk
A NEC Member of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Issa Aremu has condemned the invasion of the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly and disruption of the Senate plenary by unknown persons on Wednesday, April 18, 2018.
Comrade Aremu said “an injury to the National Assembly is an injury to the nation’s democracy” adding that the “Federal government probe of the invasion should be prompt and conclusive with the objective of prevention of future acts”.
The labour leader said the unfortunate senate event was a rude awakening to all for good governance with respect to security of lives and property as contained in 1999 constitution. Comrade Aremu said what the Senate just witnessed had been “the routine lots of many defenseless Nigerians” who are daily physically assaulted by criminals in homes, on the roads and in their communities.
Comrade Aremu said while nothing could justify thuggery at the Senate, the leadership of the National Assembly must also stop criminalizing dissenting views of democratically elected members. “The serial suspension of any members of the hallowed Chambers who hold contrary views amounts to legislative dictatorship which is also unacceptable in a democracy” he observed. Democracy is about cooperation as much as contestation and the National Assembly is the true symbol of both, he said.
Thugs suspected to be loyal to the suspended Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial district, Ovie Omo-Agege have invaded the red chambers and forcefully taken away the mace. They broke into the chambers when plenary was going on, thereby creating serious confusion and tension.
The Senate plenary was disrupted after suspected thugs invaded the chamber and made away with the mace. Aremu said the mass condemnation of the Senate invasion shows “there is a national consensus that democracy despite some of its shortcomings remains the best form of good governance and development for Nigeria.”
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Minimum Wage: Labour proposes N65,500 as committee holds nationwide public hearing
The federal government’s Tripartite Committee on the new national minimum wage is to hold public hearing across the country, and gather inputs from stakeholders on a new minimum wage.
Ayuba Wabba, President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said this while briefing journalists at the end of the Central Working Committee meeting on Wednesday, in Abuja.
Mr Wabba said the zonal hearing was expected to be conducted in the six geopolitical zones, including Lagos and Abuja beginning from April 23, 2018.
The public hearing is to consider memorandum from organised labour, governors and employers of labour.
It was reported that the organised labour had recently presented a new demand of over N66,500 to the federal government.
Mr Wabba, who confirmed the upward review of the demand of organised Labour, however, did not state the new figure presented to the tripartite committee for consideration.
According to him, he will not be drawn to mentioning figures because it is not relevant at the moment, as the organized Labour is considering the current realities in the country.
“As certain variables and current inflation in the country have made us to make an upward review of the demand.
“The new submission from Labour is not different from the initial submission. We made a demand almost two years ago and that demand was the beginning of the process.
“So, the demand of Labour was based on the agreement we had on the five year circle which we believe was due and also considering the level of inflation, we made a demand of N56,000’’ he said.
He said that the committee after its constitution by President Muhammadu Buhari requested state governors, employers, private sector and organised Labour to resubmit their memoranda for discussion to commence.
The NLC president said that in furtherance to the request, states, federal government, NECA and Labour had submitted their memos.
“But what we did was to look at the dynamics of the times because the discussion will be evidence-based.
“So, we undertook a study and made a submission. This is the logic and not that we have submitted a new position.
“It was the same memo that we submitted, but what we did was to look at the indices, because a lot has changed between 2015 and 2018.
“So that cannot be regarded as a change of position because the process of arriving at a minimum wage in line with convention 121 is evidence based.
“Everybody submitting memo or document will have to back it up with logic and not just quote figures from the air,’’ he added.
He, however, said that all variables needed to be looked at for discussions on the new minimum wage had been considered.
“Clearly, what I want to inform you about is that we are committed to what we have,’’ Mr Wabba said.
He added that the next Tripartite Committee meeting would be held on April 17, to discuss procedures for the public hearing.
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Lagos Land Use Charged Act will further impoverish people — Labour
The United Labour Congress (ULC) has lent its voice to the cries against the new Lagos State Land Use Charge Act saying it would create housing deficit and impoverish the people.
The president of ULC, Mr Joe Ajaero, who fielded questions from journalists on Tuesday in Lagos, called for the immediate withdrawal of the Act.
Recall that the new Lagos State Land Use Charge Law on Jan. 28, 2018 replaced that of 2001.
Gov.ernor Akinwumi Ambode had said that the tax was designed to help the government to generate additional revenue needed to develop the state in the light of increasing demand for urban and rural infrastructure and other expenditure.
According to Ajaero, the tax is heavily weighted against the poor who do not have their own houses and who depended on the rich for housing.
He said the Act which raised land use charges payable in the state to between 400 and 500 per cent was hard for the poor.
The ULC leader said that it would have been appropriate for the state government to improve on the provision on housing deficit before such law was enacted.
“It is on record that Nigeria suffers housing deficit and Lagos as one of the most urbanised state and has a high deficit.
“The implication of this is that the supply of housing is short and creates a landlord’s market where the masses have little option in the face of landlord decisions,’’ he said.
Ajaero said that anything that would raise the cost of providing houses by the landlords would automatically be transferred to the tenants.
“As soon as it becomes operational, landlords will immediately transfer it to their tenants by raising rents payable on their properties.
“Lagos is a city built by the people and its sustenance also depends on the people, and in making it a megacity, it should be inclusive for both the rich and the poor,’’ he said.
The labour leader, however, advised Ambode not to place politics and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) above the people as governance was for the people and not the people for governance.
He urged the government to take into cognisance the workers and the underprivileged in its actions and policies.
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Labour hails Buhari for signing Executive Order
The President of United Labour Congress (ULC), Mr Joe Ajaero, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the Executive Order to improve local content and secure jobs for Nigerians.
Recall that the president on Feb. 5 signed the Executive Order that would improve local content in public procurement with science, engineering and technology component.
Ajaero, who fielded questions from journalists in Lagos on Friday, said that the Order barring foreigners from taking jobs that could be performed by Nigerians was laudable.
”The Executive Order is a laudable development not just to Nigeria but to all workers. We commend this bold initiative of government drive to focus on promoting local content.
”ULC is excited that an Executive order has been signed to stop the haemorrhaging of our jobs and its attendant losses in tax and its various economic multipliers,” Ajaero said.
He said statistics showed that unemployment, particularly among the youths which stands at 75 per cent, has become a major challenge.
The union leader said that the percentage was due to the dwindling capacity of local businesses to create enough jobs to retain old workers, absorb the unemployed and engage new entrants into the market.
He advised the president to ensure compliance and if necessary to set up a tripartite body that would monitor it.
The labour leader further called on government to audit workplaces to discover organisations sabotaging and haemorrhaging jobs in the country.
Ajaero also urged the Labour, Foreign Affairs and Internal Affairs ministries to work in unison and face the reality of the danger of job flights.
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We’ll embark on mass action if fuel scarcity extends till 2018 – Labour
Organised labour on Friday threatened to embark on strike if the ongoing fuel shortage ravaging the nation extends to next year.
A press statement issued on Friday said it also hailed the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, for directing the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) to cut short its recess and immediately convene industry stakeholders meeting in a bid to end the ongoing fuel crisis.
A NEC member of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Issa Aremu, observed in Kaduna on Thursday that the protracted fuel crisis was a reflection of “crisis of corporate governance in the petroleum sector.”
According to the labour leader, the bane of downstream sector was “abysmal absence of accountability, transparency and openness in the administration of the petroleum resources of Nigeria.”
He said only the parliament can make a difference in “exposing the rot” in the sector.
Mr. Aremu said the Senate leadership by urging relevant committee members to resume duty has shown that the legislature is truly “a vent for public grievances, a “useful organ of public opinion” adding that legislators cannot be in recess when those who elected them are groaning in filling stations.
The labour leader urged the legislators to demand for “consequences for the actions and inactions of petroleum sector operators in the product shortage scam”.
“There is a deep-seated conflict of interest in the downstream sector; regulators are operators, regulators are importers, importers are products hoarders, regulators are also saboteurs, definitely we have a sector capture in our hands, Nigeria and Nigerians need liberation,” he remarked.
The labour leader who disclosed that “NNPC is the only public corporation that annually awards its directors long service incentives for no service at all, for non-functioning refineries” called for a “total ban on importation to reinvent domestic refineries and beneficiation to crude oil”.
Mr. Aremu however said if the intervention of the legislature fails to put an end to product shortages, labour may compel all Nigerians to return to street protests like in the past “to force the ruling elite to face up to the challenges of governance of the most populous promising but badly governed country in the continent.”
“The one-month long fuel shortage has further worsened poverty, put productivity on hold. We dare not enter 2018, new year with this recurring old mess,” he noted.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Kabiru Marafa, had disclosed that following the directive of the Senate President, the committee has summoned the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru and other relevant stakeholders in the petroleum sector to a crucial meeting on Thursday January 4, 2018.