On Monday, the Nigerian Federal Government announced the establishment of a steering committee to address the demands put forth by organized labour in response to the fuel subsidy removal.
After a meeting at the State House in Abuja, the President’s Special Adviser on Communications, Special Duties, and Strategy, Dele Alake, along with the Presidents of the Nigerian Labour Congress and Trade Unions of Nigeria, Joe Ajaero and Festus Osifo respectively, revealed this development to the press.
This meeting marked the fourth round of negotiations between the government and organized labour since the discontinuation of the petroleum subsidy, which was announced by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023. During the latest meeting held on June 5, 2023, it was agreed upon by the government and the two labour unions to continue discussions and reach a conclusive resolution.
Alake stated that the recent engagement involved the formation of a steering committee, which would receive updates from several sub-committees regarding various aspects of the labour’s demands.
His words: “Both parties went through the list and we ticked off the viable ones. Those things are broken into three different categories – the immediate, those that are low-hanging fruit; then the medium term and the long-term.
“There’s a steering committee that will be like a clearing house.”
On his part, the TUC President, Osifo, said, “The government came up with what they thought would work, and we made some input. From this night, we are going to continue the work in order to have that framework together.
“Once we have the framework, then we will agree. Anything we are putting together must be concluded in eight weeks. Everything must be rolled out within that time.”
