Fuel subsidy: How Buhari, others betrayed labour on fuel price hike
– TUC to make stand known over fuel subsidy removal on Friday
– Reveals how they were ‘ambushed’ with the new pump price of fuel
– Argues that fuel scarcity is an artificial ‘event’
The announced removal of subsidy on the premium motor spirit, popularly called petrol, on Wednesday, may end up becoming a re-enactment of the January 2012 #occupyNigeria, as some agitated citizens have commenced a new campaign to have it repeated against the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
With the removal of subsidy on the product, the government fixed N145 as the maximum amount to be charged per litre on petrol and while some Nigerians are mobilising on social media for mass protest, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) thinks the fuel price hike was a coup against organised labour.
Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, TUC President
President of the TUC, Bobboi Kaigama, and the acting secretary-general of the union, Simeso Amachree, agreed that they were at the Wednesday meeting where the decision to hike the price was taken, but that they were ambushed.
The union which fights for Nigerian workers said it did not know how the government arrived at the new price regime or its decision to allow market forces alone determine the cost of the product.
READ ALSO: NLC vows to resist fuel subsidy removal
“The congress wants to use this opportunity to put the records straight concerning the development.
“The organised labour received a 24-hour notice inviting us to meet with Vice President Osinbajo and some other key government functionaries including the minister of Labour and Employment, the minister of Information, the chairman of the governor’s forum, and the minister of state for Petroleum.
“Others include the principal officers of the National Assembly led by the deputy Senate president, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and the chairmen of the respective committees on petroleum in both chambers of the Assembly. The meeting held yesterday.
“The call for the meeting stated no specific agenda, and we were left to conjecture. Little did we know that the government had already concluded plans to hike the price of petrol. Indeed we were taken aback,” an early morning statement from the TUC on Thursday, May 12 read.
READ ALSO: IPMAN comes out in favor of petrol price rise
The statement said read: “The meeting had the leadership of labour in attendance, but we never made any imput. Not with the shock we experienced at the premeditated ‘ambush’ by the government which clearly did not invite us for any dialogue.
“When they stated their plan to introduce the new prices, our response was to ask for time to consult with our respective executive organs and subsequently revert appropriately. The government’s representatives agreed. And so we left.
“We were therefore totally confounded and shocked when we got to know that they later went on air announcing new prices for petrol.
“But our focus and hope remain strong. We know what to do. Thus the TUC has scheduled an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council (NEC) for Friday, 13 May, 2016 to x-ray the government’s pronouncement and take a stand on the matter in the best interest of Nigerian workers and the masses of our people.”
READ ALSO: Fuel subsidy removal: Nigerians berate Buhari, extol Jonathan
While expressing disappointment on behalf of Nigerians, especially as the present government repeatedly insisted during the pre-2015 election campaigns that there was already nothing like subsidy, TUC added that the fuel scarcity that had characterised the nation in the last few months have been discovered to be artificial.
“We have observed comments of those benefiting from the system commending the latest development.
“For us, the fact that petrol is currently selling for between N150 and N250 per litre does not mean that such outlandish prices should be maintained, least of all endorsed as official policy.
“We are meeting soon and will come out with our position,” the statement added.
The post Fuel subsidy: How Buhari, others betrayed labour on fuel price hike appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Read on NAIJ.COM (Nigerian newspapers).