The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have opposed removal of fuel subsidy.
The unions maintained that they will only support subsidy removal if the incoming administration of the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would repair and revitalise refineries across the country and allow modular refineries to operate.
The NLC and TUC are apparently reacting to President Mohammadu Buhari’s pronouncement on removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit known as petrol before the end of his administration’s tenure on May 29, 2023.
Last Tuesday, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, on Channels TV’s news programme, said the Buhari administration would hand over the implementation of petrol subsidy removal and palliative measures to the incoming administration.
Speaking separately on the matter, two principal officers of member-unions of the NLC, the President of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Hakeem Ambali, and the National President, National Union of Teachers, Comrade Titus Amba, vowed to mobilise their members to protest the Buhari administration’s decision on the petrol subsidy removal.
Ambali, who is also the national treasurer of the NLC, spoke with the Punch in Abuja.
He said: “We are opposed to the removal of fuel subsidy until the Nigerian government acts responsibly by fixing our moribund refineries.
Ambali also called for the “What we stand for is standardisation of private refineries. It is a shame that Nigerians are made to suffer for the incompetence of the government. We are the only oil producing country in the world that imports petroleum products; let the government license and serve as the regulator by standardising the operation of private refineries to service the domestic value chain.”
Also, Amba, who maintained that his union would stand by the decision of the NLC on fuel subsidy removal, said: “We are working together with the NLC. The position of the NLC as regards the issue of fuel subsidy is our own position. What we want is that the president-elect should ensure smooth running of modular refineries across the country.”
In his own remarks, the Vice-President of the TUC, who also doubles as the National President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Comrade Tommy Etim, said Nigeria needed functional modular refineries, adding: “The subsidy regime is a scam. I doubt if there is any subsidy to remove. Every day we wake up to new fuel prices and tariffs, so which subsidy are they talking about again? I think we have passed the level where we get shocked or get moved whenever we hear about the removal of any subsidy. Our advice to the incoming administration is for them not to hide under the shadow of any subsidy. We were made to believe that there was a subsidy. The solution now is for our refineries to work.
“The money used to service the so-called subsidy should be used to repair our moribund refineries. We have been kept in bondage. There is nothing else to excite us about subsidy. Let them repair the refineries and then the money used to service the so-called subsidy should be used to service other critical sectors. In the education sector for instance, a lot of issues need to be addressed. Similarly, we need to have a review of the minimum wage.
“So, when we say we don’t believe that the subsidy is still in existence, we are telling you what we believe. Fix the refineries and let us all move on.”
