Wabba’s NLC Faction Suspends Strike, Returns To Negotiating Table

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) will now resume dialogue with the federal government after it suspended the three-day old strike it had embarked upon to protest the hike in the pump price of petrol.

The suspension came yesterday in Abuja barely 48 hours after the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) paid a visit to the NLC leadership.

The Congress, in a communiqué at the end of an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, said it was now ready to enter into negotiations with the federal government on how to resolve the crisis.


The NLC had on Wednesday declared an indefinite strike but came it came under pressure from both the leadership of the National Assembly and the APC to suspend the action.

During his visit on Friday, Tinubu had called on the leadership of NLC to suspend the industrial action, saying government was in talks with investors to build new refineries.

“I am here to appeal to you, to assure you that whatever this government is doing now is in the best interest of Nigerians. My mission here is for us to return to the negotiating table. In war, no matter the devastation, the people must come back to negotiate for peace to rebuild their country. Let us rebuild Nigeria. Let us make Nigeria the centrepiece of Africa,” Tinubu appealed.

Also, the leadership of the National Assembly, led by Bukola Saraki and speaker, Yakubu Dogara, had separate meetings with the leadership of the NLC where they appealedto them to return to the negotiations table.

Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday after a two-hour emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, NLC president, Ayuba Wabba, said the worker’s union would resume negotiations with government on the issue of hikes in both electricity tariff and the pump price of petroleum products, and any other issue that may arise.

The communiqué reads in part, “After an exhaustive deliberation, NEC noted that its protest action was informed by the twin issues of the unjustified and illegal hike in electricity tariff and increase in the pump price of petroleum products. NEC adjudged the protest action to be a success in spite of both internal and external challenges.”

The NEC reiterated the correctness of its position on the twin-issues of electricity tariff hike and astronomical increase in the pump price of PMS and the hardship they portend for the Nigerian masses.

The NEC also acknowledged that the temptation to compare the strike with that of 2012 could be compelling but that the scenario had changed as both the actors and the terrain were different.

“NEC said that before it embarked on the action, it had anticipated a probable outcome and therefore was not surprised by government’s negative response. Nonetheless, it felt fulfilled by having the presence of mind and courage to identify its mission and fulfilling it, stressing that if a similar situation arises again, it will still rise and stand with the people.

The NLC NEC commended those who took part in the action in one way or the other and reaffirmed its commitment to the struggle. The action, it reiterated, was taken in the best interest of the poor and the weak and in drawing government’s attention to the dangers of relying on the importation of petroleum products as a sustainable strategy for making available petroleum products. It expressed the belief that in the days ahead, time would prove its position right.

“In consideration of the above, NEC, after due consultation with its constituents, resolved to suspend with immediate effect the action it commenced on Wednesday, May 18, 2016. The action is thus hereby suspended,” it said, adding that it was committed to “genuine dialogue within the framework of internationally established and recognized principles of representation.”

He said Congress will continue to resist wrong legislations, policies and programmes and will always act in the best interest of Nigerians as it remains the only pan-Nigerian organisation not affected by religion, region, creed, partisanship or primordial sentiments.

The Congress urged the government to play by the rules in its engagement with its (NLC’s) constituent parts, stakeholders and non-state actors as proof of its commitment to deepening democracy.