NLC, TUC meet on fuel price

The National Executive Council (NEC) of both the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) will meet today in Abuja and Lagos respectively to deliberate on the recent hike in prices of petroleum products and sales of Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries.

Other issues pencilled for deliberations are job loss, salary increase, among others.

Peter Esele, TUC president-general, who spoke with Business Day on phone, said series of meetings would also be held by members of both National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) at branch level to deliberate on salient issues peculiar to various braches of the unions.

Lumumba Okugbawa, PENGASSAN deputy general secretary, however, denied the report that the union was embarking on industrial action, saying that such decision could only be taken by the nation executive council of the unions.

According to him, the meeting will bring to fore the state of political ruling in the country, assuring that far-reaching decisions will be taken whether or not to embark on strike to further press in their demands.

It would be recalled that the workers in collaboration with the various civil society groups in the country including Alliance for Credible elections (ACE) met in Abuja to declare the two days, sit-at-home protest on May 28 and 29.

The oil workers had on Monday and Tuesday joined the two-day strike action in solidarity with other workers’ unions and civil society groups to protest against the May 29 handing over to President Umaru Yar’Adua as well as sales of the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries, respectively.

NUPENG and PENGASSAN had expressed concern over the apprehensive sales of the two refineries to Bluestar Oil Services, a consortium of Transcorp, Zenon Oil and Dangote Oil and Gas Limited, as well as the job cut that has led to the disengagement of about 4,000 workers in the sector.

They also accused the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and authority of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of breaching the agreement reached before the sales of the two refineries.

The agreements include salary packages and pension scheme.

Omar Abdulwaheed, NLC president, informed Business Day that the high-level meeting would among other things decide on the recent increase in fuel prices as well as fashion out strategy for government.

The NLC frowned at the hike, saying the decision did not follow due process being a solitary decision taken by the immediate past civilian president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

"A government that is in the twilight of its tenure has no right or reason to increase the price of petrol at this point. By so doing, President Olusegun Obasanjo has confirmed the widely held fear that he is deliberately planting landmines and sowing the seeds of instability and acrimony in the polity ahead of his exit from office."

(C)Kehinde Akintola--Businessday