Ajaero's faction, FG set up committee on price,
minimum wage
ABUJA — The National Industrial Court, NIC,
sitting in Abuja, yesterday, stopped the
Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade
Unions Congress, TUC, from embarking on
strike today.
This came as Organised Labour and its civil
society allies, yesterday, vowed to go ahead
with the planned indefinite strike from today
to make government reverse the N145 per litre
pump price of petrol, despite the restraining
order by the court.
Meanwhile, Senate,
yesterday, threw its
weight behind
President
Muhammadu Buhari’s
hike in the price of
fuel to N145 per litre
from N86.50
Organised Labour’s
position came on a
day president of a
faction of the Nigeria
Labour Congress,
NLC, Mr. Joe Ajaero,
said Nigeria Union of
Petroleum and
Natural Gas Workers,
NUPENG, Petroleum
and Natural Gas
Senior Staff
Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, National
Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, and
others would not join the strike.
Consequently, the Wabba faction and the
Federal Government, yesterday, agreed to set
up a joint technical committee to review the
new fuel pump price template of N135-N145
within the next two weeks and also work
towards reviewing the current national
minimum wage of N18, 000.
President of the National Industrial Court, NIC,
Justice Babatunde Adejumo, in a ruling,
yesterday, restrained the labour unions from
going on strike, pending the determination of
a suit the federal government lodged before it.
Justice Adejumo further ordered all the parties
to maintain status quo until the legal dispute
was settled.
The order followed an ex-parte application
filed by the Attorney General of the Federation
and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami,
SAN.
Determined to abort the planned strike action,
the AGF approached the NIC, begging it to
restrain the labour unions from “shutting
down the nation”.
Relying on Section 14 of the 1999
Constitution, as amended, the Federal
Government insisted that it would not be “in
the national interest” for the NLC and TUC to
proceed on nationwide strike over the fuel
price increase.
Malami argued that no amount of damages
could serve as compensation, if the labour
unions were allowed to shut down the
economy.
Contending that the balance of convenience
was in favour of the government, the AGF
prayed the court to determine “whether the
respondents (NLC, TUC) have complied with
the laid-down condition precedent for
embarking on strike."
The AGF also prayed the court to determine
"whether, indeed, there exists in law and, in
fact, the basis of which the respondents’ total
closure of the economy can be justified”.
He told the court that the respondents met on
Saturday and issued a communique wherein
they gave government a three-day ultimatum
to reverse the decision increasing fuel price.
He said the respondents, aside from
threatening to shut down the country, if
government failed to reverse the fuel price
increase, also threatened to close down all
government offices, seaports, airports and
markets.
The AGF argued that ordinary and law-abiding
citizens would be subjected to hardship, if the
respondents were allowed to go ahead with
their threat.
He said the government was left with no
alternative but to seek the intervention of the
court.
Besides, Malami told the court that he got
notice of the communique on Sunday and
quickly filed an originating summons, a
motion on notice and an ex-parte application
to determine whether NLC’s decision was
justified in the circumstance.
He insisted that “great and irreparable
damage” would be done against the nation
and “ordinary and law-abiding citizens”,
should the court refuse the ex-parte
application.
Though neither NLC nor TUC was represented
in court, Justice Adejumo granted the ex-parte
motion, even as he ordered the service of all
the relevant court processes on the
respondents.
The restraining order against the respondents
will lapse after seven days.
However, Organised Labour and its civil
society allies, incensed by government’s
decision to seek rederess at the NIC in the
midst of a negotiation, yesterday, vowed to go
ahead with the planned indefinite strike from
today to make government reverse the N145
per litre pump price of petrol.
Senate backs fuel price hike
The Senate, while sympathizing with Nigerians
over the hardship caused by the increase in
the price of petrol, however, urged government
to urgently begin implementation of palliatives
contained in the 2016 Appropriation Act
passed by the National Assembly in the
overall interest of Nigerians.
The Senate also asked Buhari’s government
not to relent in its continued dialogue with
organised labour and other stakeholders as a
way of resolving issues around the increase to
avoid grounding the system as well as impose
more hardship on the people.
Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike
Ekweremadu, who presided over yesterday’s
plenary, said: “The Senate in a closed session
deliberated on the increase in the pump price
of PMS by the Federal Government and the
threats by Organised Labour to embark on a
nationwide strike over the matter and resolved
as follows: “That we sympathise with ordinary
people of Nigeria on the hardships they are
going through.
"The Senate will engage the Federal
Government to find sustainable ways of
improving the welfare of the people of Nigeria.
“That we call on government to continue to
engage organised labour and other
stakeholders to resolve issues in order not to
ground the system and impose more
hardships on our people.
“That government should immediately start to
implement palliatives or palliative measures
contained in the 2016 appropriation act
passed by the National Assembly.”
It's black market injunction —Wabba's NLC,
TUC
Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, faction, led by
Ayuba Wabba, alongside TUC, and Joint
Action Front, JAF, at separate meetings in
Abuja and Lagos, described the restraining
order by NIC as a black market injunction.
Leaders of Wabba faction of NLC and TUC, at
their emergency National Executive Council,
NEC, meeting in Abuja, insisted that once the
strike commences today, only the joint NEC of
NLC and TUC could call it off.
Although newsmen waited anxiously to be
briefed on the outcome of the NEC meeting
amid the court order, leaders of both bodies
left the Labour House, Abuja, venue of the
meeting without talking to journalists.
However, Vanguard sources at the meeting
said NLC and TUC were infuriated that, while
government was on one hand negotiating with
them, its officials were on the other hand,
seeking a black market injunction, and
threatened to use the strike to make a
statement to the government.
One of the leaders, who attended the meeting
but spoke on condition of anonymity, said:
“Our decision not to suspend the strike was
further fuelled by today’s (yesterday’s)
injunction by the Industrial Court, restraining
us from proceeding on the strike expected to
begin tomorrow (today).”
Corroborating the position of Wabba-led NLC
and TUC, Pro-Labour Civil Society Groups,
Joint Action Front, JAF, vowed to disregard
the restraining order.
According to the Secretary of JAF, Abiodun
Aremu: ‘’The mass action is on! Let them
come with the injunction, we would disobey
whatever injunction they are coming up with."
No strike — Ajaero
Meanwhile, Factional President of NLC, Joe
Ajaero, yesterday, faulted the restraining order
by NIC stopping the planned strike and mass
protest.
Ajaero, while reacting to the restraining order
by the President of NIC, Justice Babatunde
Adejumo, contended that it was wrong for the
Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to have
gone to court over a matter that parties were
already on a negotiation table.
He equally wondered why the President of NIC
would give an order on an ex-parte
application without putting the other party on
notice as was the practice.
Ajaero said: “This was not the first time a
court would try to stop labour action. If you
could recall, when Comrade Adams
Oshiomhole was the president of NLC, there
was a court order against planned strike by
NLC and TUC, which Oshiomhole described as
a black market injunction.
“It was very wrong for the Attorney General of
the Federation to have gone to court while
parties in this case, the federal government
and Labour, were already on the negotiation
table."
“Ajaero restated his earlier position that
labour could not have mobilised sufficiently
enough for today’s strike without exhausting
all avenues for settlement.
“When we spoke with you yesterday (Monday),
we insisted that there was no way we could
mobilize, sensitize and even start an action
tomorrow (Wednesday).
‘’That we would rather negotiate and it is only
when the negotiations might have collapsed
that we take the option of going through any
action.
“On the basis of that, we agreed that a
committee should be set up to, among other
things, look at the issue of minimum wage;
look at the issue of N500bn social investment;
look at the issue of setting up or
reconstituting the PPPRA board and review
the N145 new pump price of petroleum
product.
‘’The committee is to report back in two
weeks time. I won’t like to drag it more than
this than to say this is the summary of the
agreement reached.,” he stated.
Ajaero, however, insisted that his faction,
including NUPENG, PENGASSAN, NUEE, among
others, would not go on strike over fuel price
He spoke after his faction’s meeting with
federal government officials ended early ,
yesterday morning. This was a few hours
after the meeting with Ayuba Wabba’s faction
ended.
The meetings, which ended without conclusion,
were in session at press time last night. They
started late yesterday evening.
ssource: vanguard news
