A huge transport boost to alleviate the petrol subsidy pain has been unveiled by the Federal Government.
It is a major highlight of the agreements reached between the Federal Government and the organised Labour coalition, which effectively halted the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) strike plan.
The decision on transportation also includes provision of 55,000 CNG conversion kits to kick-start an auto gas conversion programme, pending the completion of ongoing work on the state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide.
The government plans to roll-out next month with pilots across 10 campuses nationwide.
The agreements were reached at the rescheduled parley held at the State House in Abuja on Monday night.
The full agreements were contained in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Bako Lalong; Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mrs. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha and Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mallam Mohammed Idris.
NLC and TUC Presidents – Joe Ajaero and Festus Osifo, with the NLC General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja and his TUC counterpart, Nuhu A. Toro signed for Labour.
At the end of the meeting, the Labour centres agreed to suspend for 30 days, the planned indefinite strike scheduled to begin today.
The Labour announced the suspension after six hours of intense negotiation with the Federal Government.
It was after a decision had been reached by both parties to extend the implementation of the N35,000 provisional wage increment for all federal workers till a new minimum wage is agreed, suspension of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel for six months starting from October.
The parley started in parts from about 5pm. The government representatives, led by the Minister of Labour and Employment, held series of briefings, separate consultations with leaders of the represented Labour bodies.
After a harmonized meeting, which ended at about 10:50pm, the two sides presented a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Reading out the details of the MoU, Lalong, said: “Arising from the withdrawal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) by the Federal Government and the resultant increase in the price of the commodity, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) issued a strike notice which had elapsed and they were poised to embark on a strike billed to commence on Tuesday, the 3rd of October, 2023.
55,000 CNG conversion kits to kick start an auto gas conversion programme, whilst work is ongoing on state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide.
The rollout aims to commence by November with pilots across 10 campuses nationwide.
Comrade Ajaero said that if the agreements are not implemented, the strike issue would be revisited.
Asked if the agreements apply to the states, Ajaero said the fuel subsidy removal that propelled Labour’s action affects all Nigerians, including those in the states and the private sector.
He observed that some states had already commenced the attempt at alleviating the effects of the subsidy removal by introducing varying palliatives measures.
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