The organised labour has cautioned the federal government against petrol subsidy removal, vowing to resist the move if it is not carried along.
The President and the Secretary-General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo and Abba Toro, respectively, gave the caution in separate chats with Daily Trust on Thursday.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had, a fortnight ago during a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the Voice of Nigerian in Abuja, disclosed that petrol subsidy would be removed before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure on May 29.
She had attributed the delay in the subsidy removal, as provided for in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, to the 2023 general elections and the national population census.
The Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, had, after the Federal Executive Council meeting held on March 15, said no conclusion had been reached on how to lessen the likely impacts of the proposed petrol subsidy removal on citizens.
He said though a committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had been working for about a year, nothing definite had been agreed upon.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, had on Tuesday said the government would hand over the implementation of petrol subsidy removal’s palliative measures to the incoming administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
But labour officials described the plan by the Buhari-led administration to remove the subsidy before it leaves on May 29, and leave the chaos that will follow to the in-coming administration as not fair. They said citing the PIA as basis for removing the subsidy does not hold water because there is no law made by man that is cast in stone.
