The Nigeria Labour Congress has stated that the president of the country Bola Tinubu has betrayed them after announcing the new price of Fuel after negotiation that led to the agreement of the new minimum wage.
The president of the NLC stated this on Thursday on the opening day of the two-day workshop in Lagos titled “Minimum Wage Implementation Workshop, Southern Zone.
He noted that the federal government had tried to take away the attention of organised labour in so many ways through harassment and the allegation of involvement in cybercrime, financing terrorism, sponsoring terrorism and the rest.
The Nigeria Labour Congress said on Thursday that President Bola Tinubu betrayed organised labour, using the price of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly called petrol, as bait.
The organised labour stated that at the negotiation which informed the acceptance of N70,000 by the organised labour, President Tinubu offered the option not to increase the petrol price.
Ajeero, who spoke on the discussions had with the president, explained that before the NLC accepted the 70,000 naira proposal, the president had given them the option of accepting the amount to stop the increase of the fuel price wth the president presenting an option of the payment of N250,000 and an increase in the pump price of fuel but the organised labour opted for the later.
The NLC president noted that the president had told him he was the problem but continued that the president and his team had betrayed the people.
He explained that the president had told them to decide in an hour in the meeting either to go with the increment of the fuel price and the fuel price; he noted that they opted for a week adjournment over the issues, and the president postponed his trip for one week in order to address the issues.
Ajero noted that after their week-long consultation and return to the president’s office, it resolved to N70,000 against N250,000, which will increase fuel prices; according to him, the price will present more difficulty for Nigerians.
The president also disclosed that the president had told them to visit different countries in West Africa where the lowest price of petrol is selling at N1,700. According to Ajero, the president had cited Cameroon, where the fuel was being sold for N2,000 without the establishment of a refinery while all their products were gotten from Nigeria.
He noted that the NLC had told the president to check the borders, explaining that there were places where the smuggling of the products was taking place. He also noted that they had refused to visit the counties because the truth would not be told regarding the trip, which would be misconceived by the people.
He noted that the negotiations were tough because of the private sector. According to him, they refused to shift and they wanted to vote with state government, Federal government and the private sector on one side, all against labour on the other side
