Chris Ngige, Minister of Labor and Employment, has taken steps to prevent the Nigeria Labour Congress’ planned Wednesday nationwide strike.
If the cash crunch, fuel scarcity, and electricity tariff increase were not addressed, the labor union had threatened to launch a nationwide strike.
Ngige invited the management of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the leadership of the NLC to a meeting in his office on Monday to resolve their disagreements in response to the NLC’s strike threat.
The NLC’s President, Joe Ajaero, and General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, led a 10-person delegation. The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, was accompanied by Kingsley Obiora (Economic Policy) and Ade Shonubi (Organised Private Sector), two Deputy Governors.
Ngige denied the NLC’s claim that his ministry had no effect on the situation in his opening remarks.
He claimed that upon receiving the letter from the NLC, he forwarded it to the Governor of the CBN before departing the country for an International Labor Organization Governing Board meeting and directed the Permanent Secretary and Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations Department to follow up.
Related News Ngige meets with the NLC and CBN regarding a planned strike Empty bowls: As cash shortages affect benefactors, beggars and maiguards go hungry: For his part, Emefiele stated that when he received the letter from the labor ministry, he called the President of the NLC to inform him of the actions taken to alleviate the suffering of the masses. Banks ration old notes, and long lines persist.
He claimed that he went further to meet with the NLC president, which, according to him, led to the substantial amount of funds being made available to the deposit money banks.
Ajaero bemoaned the information gap created by the naira redesign and urged the CBN to improve their services.
He stated, “The NLC could not have prevented CBN from taking good decisions and putting them into action in the national interest.” If stakeholders were invited and informed about the policy, NLC would explain everything to people who complain. However, the CBN carried out the task on its own in this instance. In addition, the administration of such a national policy is inappropriate at this time.
He stated that the NLC’s National Executive Committee will meet today to decide whether or not to hold the planned strike.