By Audrey Lotechukwu
MON, 28 SEPT, 2020-theGBJournal-The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called off the nationwide strike earlier scheduled to begin today after a very lengthy meeting with officials of the Federal Government.
Sources told theGBJournal that both parties reached an agreement to suspend the strike action after the Federal Government agreed to reverse the electricity tariff increase, for at least two weeks. The tariff increase or what the Federal Government calls, cost-reflective electricity tariff, triggered the strike decision after backlash from the populace.
Our source said that a technical committee comprising both Organised Labour and the Federal Government was set up to review the new electricity tariff measure for its merits and demerit. The committee will also examine the different electricity tariff imposed by the Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) and determine the hindrances faced by the DisCos as they struggle to deploy millions of meters promised to consumers in the country.
Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo earlier on Sunday met with the leadership of the National Assembly including Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila with Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha in attendance to address Labour’s concerns about petrol price and electricity tariff.
Meanwhile, The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) have warned that the reversal of the current reforms, which include the recent price hikes in petrol and electricity, would exacerbate the challenges of the faltering Nigerian economy.
The Chamber in a statement made available to theGBJournal Sunday, urged the labour unions and the government to scale up dialogue and negotiations to avoid another round of disruption of economic activities in the country.
The LCCI shared its concerns on the potential impact of a nationwide strike by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) but argued that the government is faced with very difficult choices at this time.
‘’The Nigerian economy is currently stumbling, having suffered a significant contraction of 6.1% in the second quarter of this year. The economy is yet to recover from the devastating shocks wreaked by COVID-19 and now on the verge of a recessions,’’ the Chamber noted.
‘’The economy needs to be urgently pulled back from the brink through the adoption of appropriate policy reform measures. The reversal of the current reforms would exacerbate the challenges of the faltering Nigerian economy.’’
It argued that the fiscal space to sustain the humongous, corruption prone and opaque subsidies no longer exists. ‘’It is not in the best interest of the citizens, the economy and future generations to encourage the perpetuation of corruption ridden subsidy regimes.’’
But in the meantime, ‘’we urge the government to urgently put palliatives in place to cushion the effect of the fuel price and electricity tariff hike on the vulnerable segments of the society. This should be the bigger agenda for conversation at this time,’’ the Chamber said.
According the LCCI, ‘’It is equally paramount to ensure an effective regulatory framework in the electricity and petroleum downstream sectors to protect citizens from the exploitation. The regulators should ensure value for money. Accelerated metering programme should be in place for the power sector.’’
Twitter-@theGBJournal|email: info@govandbusinessjournal.com.ng
