Subsidy: Revert to status quo – TUC tells FG

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has condemned the sudden removal of subsidy on petrol. Addressing newsmen after its emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, on Friday, TUC President, Festus Osifo, urged the Government to revert to status quo ante.

However, unlike the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), which announced a planned nationwide industrial action effective Wednesday, Osifo said the NEC mandated the Congress to resume discussion with the government to present its demands.

Osifo said, “The Congress is unhappy with the unilateral decision of the fuel subsidy removal by the government.

“Our expectation was that they should have engaged the representative of the people, which is the organised labour, but it was done unilaterally.

“Having noted this, we wish to state as follows: That NEC in session resolves that discussions with the Federal Government should continue while we demand that the government should revert back to status quo ante.

“We told them the lists of the things we want to put forward, we told them that we will not submit them now but put them forward to our organs to discuss and seek a mandate from them of the things we can put forward.

“So, we have had a conversation and the NEC has mandated us to go back to that meeting and put our demands forward to the government.

“How the government now reacts to our demand will now necessitate the next line of action. So, we will wait till Sunday when we will meet with representatives of the government,” Osifo said.