The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have suspended the planned nationwide strike and protest that was to commence on Monday, September 28, 2020, over the recent hike in electricity tariff and petrol pump price.

This follows the agreement reached between the Federal Government and the organized labour during the meeting held by both parties which started on Sunday night and dragged on till the early hours of Monday morning.

The disclosure was made by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, through a tweet post on his twitter handle.

In the agreement between the Federal Government and organized labour, the hike in electricity tariff is to be suspended for a period of 2 weeks, while the new pump price of petrol is to remain unchanged.

According to the agreement, which was seen by Nairametrics, both parties agreed to set up a technical committee on Electricity Tariff reforms, comprising Ministries, Agencies, Departments, NLC and TUC, which will work for a duration of 2 weeks with effect from Monday, September 28, 2020, to examine the justification of the new policy in view of the need for the validation of the basis for the new cost-reflective tariff.

This is due to the conflicting field reports which appear different from the data presented to justify the new policy by NERC, metering deployment, challenges, timelines for massive rollout.

The technical committee is to be headed by the Minister of State for Labour and Labour, Festus Keyamo.

The terms of reference for the technical committee include;

• To examine the justification for the new policy on cost-reflective electricity tariff adjustments.
• To look at the different Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and their different electricity vis-à-vis NERC order and mandate.
• Examine and advice government on the issues that have hindered the deployment of the 6 million meters.
• To look into the NERC act under review with a view to expanding its representation to include organized labour.

FG & LABOUR reach agreement at 2:53am. Deregulation to stay as Govt rolls out palliatives for labour (details in 2 weeks); Electricity tariffs suspended by Govt for 2 weeks with a joint Committee headed by @fkeyamo to examine the justification for the new policy. Strike suspended pic.twitter.com/9tOTlJ9o1l

— Festus Keyamo, SAN (@fkeyamo) September 28, 2020

The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record increases as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 58,324 confirmed cases.

On the 27th of September 2020, 126 new confirmed cases and 2 deaths were recorded in Nigeria, having carried out a total daily test of 3,011 samples across the country.

To date, 58,324 cases have been confirmed, 49,794 cases have been discharged and 1,108 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 505,556  tests have been carried out as of September 27th, 2020 compared to 502,545 tests a day earlier.

COVID-19 Case Updates- 27th September 2020,

• Total Number of Cases – 58,324
• Total Number Discharged – 49,794
• Total Deaths – 1,108
• Total Tests Carried out – 505,556

According to the NCDC, the 126 new cases were reported from 12 states- FCT (30), Lagos (24), Rivers (23), Ogun (13), Katsina (9), Plateau (9), Ondo (6), Kaduna (4), Kwara (4), Imo (2), Bauchi (1), Edo (1).

Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 19,239, followed by Abuja (5,674), Plateau (3,388), Oyo (3,254), Edo (2,624), Kaduna (2,397), Rivers (2,347), Ogun (1,836), Delta (1,802), Kano (1,737), Ondo (1,631), Enugu (1,289), Ebonyi (1,040), Kwara (1,032), Abia (891), Gombe (864). Katsina (857), Osun (827),  Borno (741), and Bauchi (698).

Imo State has recorded 568 cases, Benue (481), Nasarawa (449), Bayelsa (398),  Jigawa (325), Ekiti (321), Akwa Ibom (288), Niger (259), Adamawa (237), Anambra (234), Sokoto (162), Taraba (95), Kebbi (93), Cross River (87), Zamfara (78), Yobe (76), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Western diplomats warn of disease explosion, poor handling by government

Lock Down and Curfew

In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.

The movement restriction, which was extended by another two-weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.

On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020. Also, on Monday 27th July 2020, the federal government extended the second phase of eased lockdown by an additional one week.

On Thursday, 6th August 2020 the federal government through the secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 announced the extension of the second phase of eased lockdown by another four (4) weeks.

READ ALSO: Bill Gates says Trump’s WHO funding suspension is dangerous

Laycon has emerged winner of the Big Brother Naija Lockdown Season.

The talented rapper/singer beat 19 other housemates to win the coveted N85million worth of prizes after spending 71 days in the Big Brother house and entertaining millions of viewers across Africa.

Laycon and four other housemates – Vee, Neo, Nengi and Dora, after series of evictions made it to the final week of the season’s reality show.

READ: Multichoice may have raked in N5.1 billion from voting on Big Brother Naija

Getting into the house as the 19th housemate and initially assumed as an underdog in the first two weeks, the 26-year-old UNILAG undergraduate came to be admired by fellow housemates and a lot of viewers, including top celebrities for his intelligence, humility and philosophical quotes.

Weeks into the show, the young man became the first housemate in the current season to be verified on Twitter and Instagram, and also the first-ever housemate to gain over a million followers on Instagram while in the house.

Winning tonight makes Laycon the 5th winner of the reality TV show since its inception.

READ: Africa may lose $4.8 billion in crop exports due to Coronavirus

N85 million worth of prizes

• For winning the show, Laycon will be rewarded with
• N30million cash prize; an SUV from Innoson Motors;
• a two-bedroom apartment courtesy of Revolution Plus;
• a trip to Dublin, Ireland, courtesy of Guinness Nigeria Plc;
• amazing home appliances courtesy of Scanfrost and other mouthwatering prizes.

Explore Economic and Financial Data on the Nairametrics Research Website

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