- This was the fourth meeting in a series since the petroleum subsidy removal, aiming to address the initial increase in the pump price of petroleum to N520 per litre
- Organised Labour scheduled a nationwide protest for August 2 to press for their demands over the petroleum subsidy removal, despite previous unsuccessful attempts to convince them otherwise
The meeting of the Presidential Steering Committee on Subsidy Palliatives, which was set to take place on Friday, took an unfortunate turn as the Labour team decided to walk out. This decision was made due to their claim of the government team’s lack of readiness.
After the committee’s previous meeting last Wednesday, it was agreed to convene again two days later to receive briefings from three subcommittees. However, when the Nigerian Labour Congress’ (NLC) delegation, led by President Joe Ajaero, arrived at the Chief of Staff’s Conference Room around 5 pm, they found that the necessary personnel to conduct the briefings were absent, leading them to leave the meeting.
The Labour team accused the Federal Government of using these meetings as a pretense to deceive the public, alleging that the government officials who were part of the subcommittees were nowhere to be found.
According to The Nation, the Mass Transit, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), and Cash transfer subcommittees were supposed to attend and provide information about the measures in place to mitigate the impact of fuel subsidy removal on workers.
A member of the Labour team, speaking confidentially to journalists, expressed that the government was not adequately prepared for the meeting and yet insisted on proceeding without achieving the necessary quorum.
“They are not prepared for the meeting. That’s the truth. They are using cover to deceive Nigerians. There are supposed to be three subcommittees, mass transit subcommittee, the CNG, and the cash transfer, to brief us, the steering committee but government was not prepared for the meeting.
“In their introductory remarks they made excuses and they wanted the meeting to continue, the meeting did not form a quorum. We are a people that operate on the basis of process. So, if there’s no quorum in a meeting what do you do? You will adjourn for lack of quorum.
“There was nobody to meet with. The Chief of Staff was not there, they are taking us like small children,” the source said.
Before the scheduled meeting, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff, along with other members of the government team, waited for the labour delegation at his Conference Hall. However, as the labour representatives from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) arrived at the State House entrance gate (Mopol gate), they faced a delay due to not having their names sent in advance for clearance.
Due to this delay, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila eventually had to step out to attend to other official matters while the rest of the government team continued to wait for the organised labour to arrive.
This meeting was intended to be the fourth in a series of discussions held since the implementation of the petroleum subsidy removal. It aimed to continue the dialogue regarding the initial increase in the pump price of petroleum to N520 per litre.
The Organised Labour has already planned a nationwide protest for August 2 to emphasize their demands concerning the petroleum subsidy removal. Despite the last meeting held by the steering committee last Wednesday, the government representatives were unable to persuade the labour leaders to call off their protest plan.