…As oil marketers urge dialogue
Following the threat by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to embark on a nationwide strike in protest over to force the hike in petrol pump price and increase in electricity tariff, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has convened an emergency meeting of all the governors with the labour leaders.
According to a statement by NGF’s Head of Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazaque Bekko-Barkindo, the emergency meeting is aimed at seeking “ways of settling the rift and finding a mutually agreed soft landing on amicable grounds.
“All governors are expected to attend the meeting as the matter is considered to be of urgent national importance, which needs to be quickly resolved in order not to worsen the already bad situation of Nigerians as caused by the coronavirus pandemic,” the DG of the Forum Mr. Asishana Bayo Okauru said.
“The meeting which is the first NGF emergency virtual teleconference starts at 6 pm,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, oil marketers under the auspices of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has advised the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to consider dialogue as against the nationwide strike proposed to commence from Monday, September 28, 2020.
The PETROAN President, Dr Billy Gillis-Harry, in a statement in Abuja disclosed that suspending the proposed strike action would promote sustainable peace among all stakeholders otherwise, it could largely worsen hardship already inflicted by the Covid19 pandemic on the people.
PETROAN is the umbrella body of petrol station owners and marketers with a membership base of over 400,000 operators nationwide.
“Our members occupy the last stratum in the petrol distribution value chain. We have direct contact and final interaction with users of petroleum products. We have inflammable assets that are freely accessible to a possibly rampaging group.
“So, we are of the opinion that dialogue will achieve middle ground that will be favourable to the masses than a strike action,” he stated.
Gillis-Harry who emphasised that the association was against the hike in petroleum pump price, and other tariffs, emphasized that this is no good to Nigerians.
“We want the Nigerian Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress, NUPENG and all sister unions and associations to consider this dialogue option in the interest of the ordinary Nigerians. Let us exhaust all possible avenues of a peaceful solution. We believe the authorities will definitely shift,” he added.
The NLC’s Central Working Committee handed down a two-week ultimatum to the FG to reverse the price hike or face industrial action after the National Executive Council meeting on Tuesday in Abuja.