Nigeria Labour Congress said it would not back out on its planned protest despite the Federal Government suspension of fuel subsidy removal plot.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; and the Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, had during a meeting at the National Assembly on Tuesday, announced that fuel subsidy removal plan has been suspended by the Federal government.
But NLC said its nationwide protest which was planned to commence on Thursday would not be stopped.
The Assistant General Secretary, NLC, Asuzu Echezona, while confirming this, said “We are continuing with preparation for the protests.”
Also on its part, the Ogun State Chairman of the NLC, Emmanuel Bankole, also said the planned protest would hold.
According to him, “The congress observed a game plan and deceit in the new development hence, there is no going back in the planned protest scheduled in the state against the plan by the Federal Government.
“We are aware (of the suspension of the fuel subsidy removal). We are going ahead with the Thursday protest. There is no going back.”
The NLC National Chairma, Ayuba Waba, has carpeted the Federal Government over its failure to manage the nation’s four oil refineries and inability to build new ones.
Ayu spoke in a letter made available to journalists on Monday.
“It is tragic and shameful that Nigeria is about the only OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Producing Countries) country that cannot refine her crude oil,” Ayuba said.
He added that the government should re-engage the organised labour in discussions to find “mutually acceptable solutions to the current quagmire in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sub-sector.”
The statement added that “The Federal Government should announce the withdrawal of its plans to increase the pump price of petrol.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that the perennial increase of the pump price of petrol and other refined petroleum products by the government is actually a transfer of government failure and inability to effectively govern to the poor masses of our country.
“Central to this is the failure of the government to manage Nigeria’s four oil refineries and inability to build new ones. It is tragic and shameful that Nigeria is about the only OPEC country that cannot refine her own crude oil.”