Strike: Gbajabiamila appeals to NLC to give govt more time

*We will enforce the law — Police

SPEAKER of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, Sunday, appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC to suspend its industrial action against electricity tariff hike and fuel price increase.

This is coming barely 24 hours after the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed also appealed to the organised labour to reconsider the decision to go on strike on Monday.

Meeting with publishers of online newspapers, yesterday in abuja, Lai Muhammed had given assusrance that the policies of the government will be of great benefits to the ordinary masses in the long run.

He said, “Ordinary citizens are not the beneficiaries of the subsidy on petroleum products that have lasted for years. Between 2006 and 2019, a total of N10.4tn was spent on fuel subsidy, most of which went to fat cats who either collected subsidy for products they didn’t import or diverted the products to neighbouring countries, where prices are much higher.

“I want to assure Nigerians, through you, gentlemen of the press, that the government is not insensitive to their plight. As a matter of fact, the full deregulation of the petroleum sector and the service-based electricity tariff adjustment will in the long run benefit the ordinary people.”

Speaking today at an interventionist meeting held at the National Assembly with the leadership of the NLC, led by its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, Gbajabiamila said, “We want to appeal to you, to please let us tarry a while, even if it is for a couple of weeks”, the Speaker told the NLC.”

Meanwhile the Labour Congress has insisted on going on with the strike.
Ahead of the Monday planned strike action and protest by labour bodies, the Nigeria Police Force has said it will enforce the law in full.

Despite two court injunctions restraining the unions and their affiliates from proceeding with the strike, the labour unions told newsmen on Friday that they would go ahead with the strike and protest from Monday as they had yet to be served the court orders. The unions said they would only shelve the planned strike if the Federal Government reversed the recent hikes.

The National Industrial Court in Abuja had on Thursday granted an order of interim injunction restraining the unions from disrupting, restraining, picketing or preventing the workers or ordinary Nigerians from accessing their offices to carry out their legitimate duties on September 28, 2020, or any other date.

Justice Ibrahim Galadima, who also issued an interim order restraining the labour unions from embarking on the strike action, gave the ruling following an ex parte application filed by a group, Peace and Unity Ambassadors Association, through their counsel, Sanusi Musa.

The court also granted an order compelling the Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General, Department of State Services, to provide protection for workers engaged in their legitimate duties from any form of harassment, intimidation and bullying by the officers, agents or privies of the unions pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

Meanwhile, barely 24 hours after the ruling, the judge on Friday issued another order restraining the unions from going ahead with the strike, following an ex parte application by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

The Federal Government of Nigeria and the AGF are the plaintiffs in the second suit marked NICN/ABJ/257/2020. The ex parte application was signed by the AGF, Abubakar Malami (SAN).

In their reaction on Saturday, however, the police said they would be guided by the position of the law on the matter.

Force spokesperson, DCP Frank Mba, in his response to questions from reporters, said,

“What does the law say in this circumstance? We would enforce the law. That is the only thing I can say.”