March 28, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that the planned nationwide protest and strike by organised Labour scheduled for Wednesday, over the scarcity of naira notes, will not go on as positive negotiations are currently ongoing between the government and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).
Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, who gave the assurance at the weekly Ministerial Briefing organised by the Presidential Communication Team at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday, said the threat of protest by the NLC against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been arrested.
The NLC had last week, issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to mandate the CBN and commercial banks to end the cash scarcity, warning of a nationwide protest and the picketing of the apex bank and its branches across the country.
But at the Ministerial Press Briefing, Ngige said he was confident that ongoing dialogues coordinated by his Ministry between the CBN and Labour leaders have yielded positive fruits.
Speaking on the dialogues, the Minister said the issue has been discussed by the NLC in its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting and the protest would no longer go ahead.
His words: “They said they will call up their National Executive Council meeting because the initial decision to give that ultimatum was given by this same Council.
“Members of the Council reside in the States and the Local Governments, so they will come up today, which is Tuesday, the 28th, to review the situation because much as it is, the important thing is that we have emphasised to them that we have apprehended this dispute.
“By Section 7:8 of the Trade Dispute Act, once the Minister apprehends and starts conciliation on it, you maintain status quo ante bellum. So, they have gone back now to review the situation.
“If they’re not satisfied with what they see, they will come back to me and I’ll invite the CBN again.
“But for now, the issue of discussion is no longer strike, the issue of discussion is implementation and how far it’s gone and how far it affects Nigerian workers and the general population.
“So, that is it, the final decision will be done today by NEC and they will then do a resolution, of course, inform me and CBN what their resolution is. But like I said, we have apprehended and we are now conciliating.”
