Media Director of Tinubu/Shettima campaign, Bayo Onanuga has urged the Nigerian workers to ignore the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, Joe Ajaero, asking worker nationwide to go on strike next Wednesday over the removal of petrol subsidy.
Onanuga who made the appeal on his social media platform on Friday with a tittle: “The Politically tainted NLC, TUC”, said despite Ajaero being privy to the distressing financial figures, which justified why subsidy ought to have been scrapped a long time ago.
Advising the perceptive workers and the Nigerian populace to simply ignore the NLC President and his ilk, saying Ajaero is playing politics and is actually acting the script of the opposition Labour Party, out to destabilise the young Tinubu administration.
“Besides, one wonders whose interest Ajaero is championing, when he did not oppose the position of his Labour Party and presidential candidate, who campaigned with the promise to scrap subsidy from Day One, if elected”.
He added that NLC and TUC leaders knew since last year November that subsidy will be scrapped from July 1 as no provision has been made in the budget for it, beyond this date.
Onanuga said, “The Federal Government which already commits 96 percent of its revenue in servicing debt is not in any position to continue selling subsidised fuel, most of which is smuggled across our borders for criminal and obscenely unpatriotic profit.
“Subsidy of fuel is no longer unsustainable as the FG is virtually broke. Apart from its N77 trillion debt, it also owes the NNPC Limited about N2.4trillion for past subsidies”, Bayo Onanuga said.
The Media Director urged Nigerian people and workers to support the government as it works out new wages and rolls out other interventions, as promised by President Tinubu, to mitigate the effects of new fuel price.
“Let’s not make ourselves pawns in the hands of the politically biased and tainted NLC and TUC. Ajaero is no more a labour leader. He is a politician and leader of Labour Party. He is no more representing all the Nigerian workers”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC threatened to embark on a nationwide strike on Wednesday June 7, 2023.
NLC who specifically cautioned that it would not go back on its decision to withdraw its services should the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited fail to reverse the increase of the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to N184 per litre.
NLC took the decision during an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Friday (today) to deliberate on the recent increment in the pump price of PMS, also known as petrol.
The meeting which commenced a few minutes past 12 pm was attended by executive members of the affiliate unions of the congress.
The trade union group had kicked against the removal of the fuel subsidy announced by President Bola Tinubu on Monday, May 29, while delivering his inaugural speech.