President Muahammadu Buhari has proven that he is pro people, according to the All Progressives Congress (APC), for successfully brokering an agreement with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in shelving the nationwide strike.
The APC, in a statement signed by its deputy national publicity secretary, Yekini Nabena, said the brokering of the agreement by the government with the labour leaders showed that the welfare and interest of the masses are the priority of the administration.
“The federal government in temporarily suspending the application of the cost-reflective electricity tariff adjustments by DISCOs to allow for an all-inclusive and independent review of the power sector operations is evident of the government’s pro-people stance.
“Again, to reduce the cost of petrol, the federal government and labour agrees on the urgency to rehabilitate the nation’s refineries and increase our local refining capacity so as to reduce the overdependence on costly importation of refined petroleum products.
“To cushion the impacts of the downstream sector deregulation and electricity tariffs adjustment on the Nigerian masses, the federal government is among others implementing palliatives which can be easily assessed by Nigerian workers and financed from the Economic Sustainability Programme Intervention Fund with subsequent provision for 240,000 under the auspices of NLC and TUC for participation in agricultural ventures through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Ministry of Agriculture,” the APC said.
The APC said the approval by the government to remove tax on minimum wage so as to cushion the impacts of the policy on the vulnerable; the immediate provision to organized labour of 133 CNG/LPG driven mass transit buses; 10 per cent housing allocation to Nigerian workers under the ongoing Ministry of Housing and Finance initiative through the NLC and TUC, among others mean that the government is pro people in its policy.
“The President Buhari government has made solid commitments to rechannel saved national resources from the stopped fuel subsidy and deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector to other critical sectors such as infrastructure, health and education. The APC calls on all well-meaning Nigerians and stakeholders to cooperate, partner and monitor the implementation of these commitments and agreements reached by the federal government and organised labour,” the APC said.
The APC said the transmission of the much-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill 2020 to the National Assembly, was a welcome development as it would provide the necessary legal framework to the long-sought reforms and ongoing deregulation of the petroleum sector in the country.
