… disclose ‘President assures PortHarcourt Refinery to begin operations December’
Organised labour leaders, on Wednesday night, revealed what transpired at their meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu had held a meeting with the labour leaders who organised Wednesday’s nationwide protest.
Disclosing the details of their meeting with Tinubu, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the President assured the leaders of the organised labour that his government would ensure that one of the moribund refineries in the country, the PortHarcourt Refinery, will commence operations by December 2023.
Ajaero said President Tinubu also made series of promises, which made them to agree to the negotiation table.
He added that the President pledged to ensure that agreement is reached on the wage award for Nigerian workers immediately.
He also said Tinubu promised to unveil a workable roadmap to the CNG alternative next week.
The NLC President said labour would return to a round table discussion after the protest across the country.
According to Ajaero in a statement jointly signed with his Trade Union Congress counterpart, Festus Osifo, “It is pertinent to inform Nigerians that the extent of the success of the protest is underlined by the request of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu to meet with the leadership of the NLC and TUC in a closed-door session.
“The engagement was fruitful that immense mileage was gotten with regards to the issues that bogged down the work of the Presidential Committee on Subsidy removal and necessitated the protest viz:
“He committed to an immediate restructuring of the framework for engagement in line with the input of the Labour leaders. He let out a certainty that the Port Harcourt Refinery will commence production by December this year. He pledged to ensure that Agreement is reached on the Wage Award for Nigerian workers immediately.
“He promised to unveil a workable roadmap to the CNG alternative next week. On the strength of the President’s pledge and commitment, we have decided for a return to a new and reinvigorated dialogue process to allow for full implementation.
“Once again, we thank Nigerians while we wait for the government to fulfill its own part of the understanding as agreed with His Excellency; the President.”