TheCable

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to picket filling stations hoarding petrol in the country.

Ayuba Wabba, NLC president, issued the threat at the end of a virtual emergency meeting of the national executive council (NEC) of the congress on Tuesday, in Abuja.

TheCable had reported how queues for petrol resurfaced in the federal capital territory (FCT) at the weekend, causing anxiety and hardship for residents.

Wabba said NEC condemned the hoarding of petrol by marketers in major cities, lamenting the great hardship the situation was imposing on an already suffering and traumatised Nigerian workforce and people.

Wabba said Nigerians were being punished and impoverished to satisfy the greed of a few marketers of refined petroleum products.

“NEC called on relevant regulatory agencies of government to rise up to the protection of the interests of the majority of Nigerians from the exploitative hands of market forces,” he said.

“These market forces are bent on making maximal profits from the sufferings of fellow citizens.

“The NEC also warned that should the current artificial scarcity persist that the various leadership structures of the NLC should picket petrol stations found to be inflicting pains on Nigerians.”

He said the labour union will embark on a nationwide protest on March 10 over the plan by the national assembly to move the national minimum wage from the exclusive to the concurrent list.

Wabba said the plan to move the minimum wage is an attempt to plunge the country into chaos and make “Nigeria a laughing stock”.

He said NEC, after careful consideration of the implications on the working-class, decided that there will be a national protest.

“NEC resolved that if the national assembly gives credence to a bill seeking movement of the minimum wage from the executive legislative list to concurrent legislative list, workers may embark on strike,” he said.

“The protest is to make a strong statement that Nigerian workers would not lie low and watch hard-fought rights which are of global standards bastardised by opportunistic and narrow thinking politicians.

“The NEC resolved that the national protest action will be concurrently held in all the 36 states of the federation and to the different state houses of assembly across Nigeria.

“NEC resolved that all the resolutions and decisions adopted at the emergency meeting should be pursued in collaboration with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the overall interest of all Nigerian workers.”