Federal Government officials, along with leaders from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), are set to resume talks today to discuss measures to mitigate the impact of the removal of the petrol subsidy.
This meeting aims to kick off the eight-week timeline that was set last week for concluding discussions on the issue.
During the previous meeting, a Presidential Steering Committee was formed to oversee technical sub-committees focusing on various aspects of the matter.
The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila led the government’s team and agreed that all labor demands should be addressed within the eight-week period.
Negotiations will continue with the five sub-committees: Cash Transfers, Social Investment Programme (SIP), Cost of Governance, Energy, Mass Transit and Housing. Today’s meeting will confirm the members of these sub-committees and define their working templates.
The Cash Transfer committee, for instance, is expected to devise a strategy for increasing income from the government to vulnerable Nigerians.
One anonymous source that spoke with The Guardian revealed that the NLC plans to promote a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) revival process in Nigeria, as part of a move away from oil to gas.
The goal is to provide alternative energy options to Nigerians to alleviate the burden of the fuel subsidy removal.
When asked if the eight weeks are feasible for the committees to complete their task, he said: “It may not be feasible, but what I see happening, going forward, is that the committees on their own will request an extension to deliver benefits to Nigerians, so that at the end of the day, we can break the vicious cycle of gang up, exploitation and under-development against Nigerians by the ruling elites.”
He revealed that Nigerians should be expectant, as the NLC wants to drive a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) revival process in Nigeria, a movement away from oil to gas.
The source said it is a project NLC is hoping to prioritise, so that the elites, who want to use Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to oppress Nigerians, would not have the opportunity.
The source said, “We will make alternative provisions for Nigerians, which is one of the key things we asked for. How can you hand over a monopoly to someone who has never helped with his prior monopoly in cement? Rather, we have to pay more for a bag of cement than our neighbours in West Africa.
“We plan to move away from the oppression, so that we can rely on gas. If the government doesn’t want to drive the process, we will.
“We are planning a CNG fair in Nigeria, where all stakeholders will come, partner with major car entities, research institutes, marketers and producers of conversion kits, technicians and artisans for capacity training across Nigeria, to ensure we have places where they can take their equipment and convert to gas immediately. We are also partnering with energy providers to have a distribution network, where gases will be made available to Nigerians.”
Also, TUC Secretary-General, Nuhu Toro, expressed optimism that the presidential steering committee set up to look into demands put forth by TUC would come up with ideas that would lead to fruition.