No Protest Amidst Fuel Subsidy Removal For Now – NLC

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has announced no plans to hold any nationwide protest on Friday against the present hike in price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly known as petrol due to the subsidy removal.

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced during his inaugural address at Eagle Square, Abuja, that his administration will remove the subsidy on Petroleum products.

Tinubu said “Subsidy is gone.” The statement created some sort of crisis, chao, and panic buying in the downstream sector of the oil industry.

NLC statements about the assumed protest

The congress said there would be no protest yet, though it was outraged by the sudden price increment which is intended to bring untold hardship to ordinary Nigerians.

He says “As much as we are outraged by this mindless price increase which is intended to bring untold hardship to ordinary Nigerians, we have no plan to start any action tomorrow.

Comrade Joe Ajaero, President of NLC, in a statement on Thursday signed by the Congress’ Head of Information Unit, Benson Upah, reacted to reports in some quarters that the organised labour had scheduled a protest for Friday.

There have been reports that the meeting between the NLC and the federal government representatives on Wednesday at the State House, Abuja, on the removal of subsidy ended in a stand-still as no agreement was reached.

Ajaero clarified the issue and stated the labour’s position, that the union would hold meetings tomorrow (Friday) to further premeditate the issue.

Ajaero says “What we do have for now are organ meetings slated for tomorrow, Friday, June 2nd, 2023 to deliberate on the price issue. We promise to keep Nigerians informed on our next line of action after our meetings.

He then advised the public to disregard any stories related to the NLC staging a protest. According to him, they did not emanate from the Congress.